News - AllGov California860259http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-forbids-us-immigration-agents-from-pretending-to-be-police-170727?news=860259Top StoriesCalifornia Forbids U.S. Immigration Agents from Pretending to be Police<p>
By Derek Fleming, Courthouse News Service</p>
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) &ndash; California Gov. <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/Office_of_the_Governor?officialid=228">Jerry Brown</a> signed a bill Monday barring federal authorities from presenting themselves as law enforcement officers in the Golden State.</p>
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Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, wrote the bill, <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1440">Assembly Bill 1440</a>, in hopes of reducing unethical tactics by federal agents.</p>
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The measure clarifies that <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-homeland-security/us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice?agencyid=7352">U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement</a> and <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-homeland-security/us-customs-and-border-protection?agencyid=7353">Customs and Border Protection</a> agents are not licensed peace officers. Reports of ICE and CBP officers portraying themselves as police officers in an effort to force or coerce cooperation from unwilling residents led to the introduction of AB 1440.</p>
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&ldquo;I am pleased that Gov. Brown has signed AB 1440 into law, upholding the trust and faith our local law enforcement work to develop with local communities every day to provide for the public&rsquo;s safety,&rdquo; Kalra said in a statement. &ldquo;Under the new federal administration, ICE and CBP are undertaking unprecedented and aggressive tactics to identify, monitor, and detain undocumented immigrants for deportation. This bill sends a clear message &ndash; that in California, law enforcement officers are sworn to protect all residents, regardless of their immigration status.&rdquo;</p>
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According to the Assembly analysis of the bill, it is not uncommon for ICE agents to detain a person on suspicion of immigration status without a warrant. According to the analysis, ICE agents have claimed to be police officers to gain consent to enter a person&rsquo;s home &ndash; a tactic that is viewed as unethical, but within the powers granted to the officers.</p>
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&ldquo;Recognizing that federal law pre-empts state law, this bill may be viewed as symbolic. However, as California and the rest of the nation enter into a new reality of aggressive and, at times, deceitful actions undertaken to enforce immigration actions, California must take any and all necessary actions to disassociate the actions of federal ICE agents with those of licensed state and local peace officers,&rdquo; Kalra said.</p>
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Civil rights groups supported Kalra&rsquo;s bill, looking to stymie the Trump administration&rsquo;s promise to use any and all available tools to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. Many groups fear the administration will expand deportations to include all undocumented immigrants, their families and relatives.</p>
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&ldquo;Gov. Brown is sending the right message that these unethical tactics by ICE under the Trump administration will not be tolerated in California,&rdquo; said Christopher Sanchez, policy advocate for the <a href="http://www.chirla.org/">Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights</a>. &ldquo;To have ICE deceive our communities that they are police officers only creates greater mistrust between law enforcement and the immigrant community. We applaud the passage of Assembly Bill 1440 as we continue to educate our communities of the deception created by the Trump administration.&rdquo;</p>
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Kalra said the training undergone by the state&rsquo;s licensed peace officers and that received by ICE and CBP agents are not equivalent. California peace officers receive a minimum of 664 hours training, while ICE agents receive five weeks of Spanish-language training and an 80-day basic law enforcement class.</p>
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<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.courthousenews.com/california-bans-ice-masquerading-police-officers/">Santa Cruz Police See Homeland Security Betrayal in Use of Gang Roundup as Cover for Immigration Raid</a> (by Matthew Renda, Courthouse News Service)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/big-business-warns-trump-of-damage-to-economy-from-mass-deportations-161212?news=859904">Big Business Warns Trump of Damage to Economy from Mass Deportations</a> (by Steve Peoples, Associated Press)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/tucson-police-accused-of-making-illegal-traffic-stops-to-catch-undocumented-immigrants-160510?news=858789">Tucson Police Accused of Making Illegal Traffic Stops to Catch Undocumented Immigrants</a> (by Tim Hull, Courthouse News Service)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/donald-trump-has-a-plan-for-deporting-millions-of-california-illegal-immigrants-150818?news=857225">Donald Trump Has a Plan for Deporting Millions of California Illegal Immigrants</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/border-patrol-arrests-extend-hundreds-of-miles-from-border-141110?news=854777">Border Patrol Arrests Extend Hundreds of Miles from Border</a> (by Steve Straehley, AllGov)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/are-local-police-wasting-resources-enforcing-immigration-laws?news=838652">Are Local Police Wasting Resources Enforcing Immigration Laws?</a> (by Tyler Schenk-Wasson, AllGov)</p>
2017-07-27T14:55:06-07:00860135http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-lawmakers-urged-to-strip-self-dealing-tax-board-of-its-duties-170403?news=860135Top StoriesCalifornia Lawmakers Urged to Strip “Self-Dealing” Tax Board of Its Duties<p>
By Helen Christophi, Courthouse News Service</p>
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) &ndash; Following a 2015 finding that California&rsquo;s tax board mishandled $47.8 million in sales tax revenue, State Controller <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/appointments-and-resignations/state-controller-who-is-betty-yee-150102?news=855249">Betty Yee</a> called on lawmakers Friday to strip the board of its tax administration, audit and compliance duties.</p>
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The proposal, which would allow the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/elected-independents/board_of_equalization?agencyid=190">State Board of Equalization</a> to continue processing taxpayer appeals, comes in response to a <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/independent-agencies/department_of_finance?agencyid=224">Department of Finance</a> audit released Thursday revealing that the board and its officers continue to be mired in mismanagement and self-dealing.</p>
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&ldquo;In order to rebuild taxpayer trust, meaningful reform is essential,&rdquo; Yee said in a statement Friday. &ldquo;I urge the Legislature and the governor to strip the board members of all statutory functions and permanently move these duties and assigned staff to a separate new department under the governor.&rdquo;</p>
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The Board of Equalization was established in 1879 to ensure that property tax assessments were uniform throughout the state. Today, the board collects retail sales and use taxes, property taxes and special taxes, and handles taxpayer appeals.</p>
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Its more than 30 tax and fee programs generated nearly $61 billion in revenue and accounted for more than 30 percent of all state revenue for fiscal year 2014-2015.</p>
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Although the board was dinged in November 2015 when an audit by Yee&rsquo;s office found that it mistakenly sent $47.8 million in sales tax revenue to the state&rsquo;s general fund, the Finance Department&rsquo;s newest audit revealed that the board has done little since then to stanch the bleeding.</p>
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The board is still struggling with its accounting, having revised its proposed allocation adjustment 11 times to correct for errors and omissions, according to Thursday&rsquo;s audit.</p>
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And after interviewing more than 70 board employees and managers scattered throughout the state, the Finance Department found that board members routinely redirect staff to projects in their districts, a violation of state law in some cases.</p>
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The projects include the informal establishment of a call center in Culver City and the creation of an unofficial office location in El Segundo, both in Southern California.</p>
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Though each board member gets an operating budget of $1.5 million, the audit found that some board members pull their staff from jobs collecting tax revenue to do constituent outreach, another violation of state law.</p>
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Worse, board staff reported fear of retaliation, including of being fired, if they refused to cooperate with board members.</p>
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Due to the redirection of staff, the board&rsquo;s supplemental annual reports &ndash; which the Legislature uses to assess the effectiveness of some of its tax programs &ndash; are riddled with errors, according to the audit.</p>
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&ldquo;In performing this evaluation, we noted BOE&rsquo;s operational culture impacts its ability to report accurate and reliable information to decision makers,&rdquo; the audit stated.</p>
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Moreover, board employees and managers who were interviewed couldn&rsquo;t answer basic questions about the board&rsquo;s operations, and were unaware of activities within their own districts for which they were responsible.</p>
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A Board of Equalization representative did not return a call seeking comment Friday, which was a state holiday in California.</p>
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Yee said she&rsquo;s hopeful that restricting board&rsquo;s functions would yield better results.</p>
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&ldquo;This change would address the prevalent misuse of resources and better serve taxpayers,&rdquo; she said.</p>
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<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
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<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/outdated-state-tax-program-costs-california-billions160415?news=858652">Outdated State Tax Program Costs California Billions</a> (by Nick Cahill, Courthouse News Service)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/where-is-the-money-going/state-audit-finds-serious-and-pervasive-deficiencies-in-socal-city-150717?news=856977">State Audit Finds &ldquo;Serious and Pervasive Deficiencies&rdquo; in SoCal City</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/where-is-the-money-going/small-window-opens-on-secret-audit-and-revocation-of-blue-shield-non-profit-status-150706?news=856893">Small Window Opens on Secret Audit and Revocation of Blue Shield Not-for-Profit Status</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2017-04-03T14:55:06-07:00860102http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/big-oils-grip-on-california-170301?news=860102Top StoriesBig Oil’s Grip on California<p>
By Michael J. Mishak, Center for Public Integrity</p>
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On the morning of June 21, 2011, a worker named Robert David Taylor was walking through an oil field west of Taft, California, when he noticed a plume of steam coming from the darkened earth. Taylor, 54, was a Chevron supervisor who had spent three decades around Kern County&rsquo;s Midway-Sunset field, the largest and most productive in the state. He and two co-workers had been dispatched to fix the &ldquo;chimney&rdquo; near an idled well known to spew scalding geysers of oil, water and rocks as high as 40 feet in the air.</p>
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California was in the midst of an oil boom. Crude prices had soared above $100 per barrel, and pump jacks, pipes and power lines snaked across the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, about two hours north of Los Angeles. The spouts at Well 20 that day were the result of an increasingly popular technique called cyclic steaming, in which steam is pumped into the earth to dislodge thick, tar-like crude. After a century of extraction, the easy oil was gone, and this was like filling an empty ketchup bottle with water to get the last few drops. It was dangerous work &mdash; the intense heat fractured geologic formations to release oil but it also destabilized the porous earth and created sinkholes.</p>
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As Taylor approached the site, the ground gave way. He was sucked feet first into a burbling cauldron of fluids and poison gas. He screamed. A co-worker rushed to reach him with a piece of pipe, but it was too short. Within seconds, Taylor disappeared into the muck. It took 17 hours to recover what remained of his body.</p>
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Two hundred and eighty miles north in Sacramento, the news of Taylor&rsquo;s death shook Elena Miller. As the state&rsquo;s oil and gas supervisor, Miller had been warring with energy companies for the better part of a year over the potential dangers of underground injection &mdash; the umbrella term for cyclic steaming and other forms of oil extraction that involve infusing fluids into the earth. Now, she redoubled her efforts, banning steam injection around the accident site and cracking down on new drilling permits. The oil industry was outraged. Hamstrung by unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, energy companies were rushing to ramp up production in California, marching steadily out of century-old oil fields and into almond orchards, alfalfa fields, and just about anywhere crude might be found. Miller threatened all of that.</p>
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Four months later, she was fired.</p>
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<em>&#39;We&#39;re Ready to Fight&#39;</em></p>
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Known nationally as a laboratory of progressive values and environmental protection, California is perhaps the last place one would expect Big Oil to hold sway. The state has passed some of the toughest energy regulations in the country and set aggressive new goals to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Since the election of Donald Trump, <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/officials/california_brown_jerry?officialid=228">Gov. Jerry Brown</a> has positioned California as a bulwark against a new president who sees climate change as a &ldquo;hoax&rdquo; and a White House that promises to appoint the most pro-drilling Cabinet in American history. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got the scientists, we&rsquo;ve got the lawyers, and we&rsquo;re ready to fight,&rdquo; the governor thundered during a speech in San Francisco in December.</p>
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Praise came quickly.</p>
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&ldquo;At Forefront of Climate Fight, California Plans an Offensive,&rdquo; said <em>The New York Times</em>.</p>
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&ldquo;This Is What the Resistance Sounds Like,&rdquo; said <em>The Atlantic</em>.</p>
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Obscured by the headlines, however, is oil&rsquo;s enduring power in the Golden State. Long before Silicon Valley, medical marijuana and sushi burritos, crude was king. Today, California is the third-biggest oil-producing state, behind only Texas and North Dakota. Over the past six years, as the state has won international praise for its efforts to fight climate change, Big Oil has spent more than $122 million on campaign contributions and on lobbying to boost production, weaken regulatory agencies and mold energy policy.</p>
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Perhaps more than any other special interest, the oil industry has helped reshape California&rsquo;s political landscape, in part by cultivating a relationship with Brown and nourishing a new breed of Democrats: moderate lawmakers who are casting a critical eye on the state&rsquo;s suite of climate-change policies, including its signature cap-and-trade program, which aims to curb greenhouse gases by penalizing companies that pollute. As a result, the industry saw a spike in production for the first time in nearly two decades, turned back legislative efforts to halve the state&rsquo;s petroleum usage and overcame calls for a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. In perhaps the biggest sign of oil&rsquo;s clout, Brown, a liberal icon who made a name for himself as an environmentalist in the 1970s, eased restrictions to clear the path for more drilling. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s responsible to let Third World countries do the oil production so that Californians can drive around, even in their hybrids,&rdquo; Brown told Politico in 2015, as he prepared to attend the United Nations climate summit in Paris. &ldquo;We have to shoulder our part of the responsibility.&rdquo;</p>
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That business-friendly approach has come at a price. Two and a half years ago, California&rsquo;s oil regulator acknowledged that it had allowed companies to drill thousands of wells into aquifers &mdash; underground reservoirs &mdash; that were supposed to be protected as potential sources of drinking water. The <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/independent-agencies/environmental-protection-agency-epa?agencyid=7326">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a> stepped in to oversee the cleanup. A year later, after a gas leak in the San Fernando Valley forced the evacuation of thousands of residents, state lawmakers blamed lax regulation. It was the largest discharge of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, in American history. The state&rsquo;s overall carbon emissions have decreased in recent years, but only modestly; industrial pollution from oil and gas development has risen.</p>
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All of this, some environmentalists and lawmakers say, calls into question California&rsquo;s ability to live up to its reputation as a climate leader.</p>
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Bill McKibben, one of the country&rsquo;s most prominent climate activists, pointed to the state&rsquo;s embrace of fracking as a &ldquo;glaring exception&rdquo; to an otherwise-impressive environmental record. &ldquo;There&#39;s no other explanation than the political and financial clout of the oil industry,&rdquo; he said by email, adding that, &ldquo;Every ton of carbon Occidental [Petroleum] sends into the atmosphere makes it that much harder to imagine a California that survives the droughts of this century.&quot;</p>
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Some specifically fault Brown, who has boasted of &ldquo;the most aggressive control of oil production and use anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.&rdquo; In a report last week, a prominent California-based consumer group gave the governor a &ldquo;dirty&rdquo; rating for his actions on oil drilling.</p>
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&ldquo;&lsquo;Hypocrite&rsquo; is almost too nice of a word. It&rsquo;s more of a con,&rdquo; said Adam Scow, state director of <a href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/">Food &amp; Water Watch</a>, which endorsed the report. &ldquo;Once you start to look at the real policies and the real problems and the fact that we are still the nation&rsquo;s third largest oil-producing state, things are not all so rosy here.&rdquo;</p>
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<em>Power of the Oil Lobby</em></p>
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Lobbyists have so much power in the California Legislature that insiders refer to them as the &ldquo;third house.&rdquo; Few groups have more influence than the <a href="https://www.wspa.org/">Western States Petroleum Association</a>, or WSPA (pronounced Wis-Pa), as it&rsquo;s known in the capital. Founded in 1907 amid the black-gold boom that shaped Southern California, WSPA is the nation&rsquo;s oldest oil trade group, representing more than two dozen major companies in five states, including California. Much of its staying power stems from an unrivaled political war chest; it routinely spends more on lobbying than any other special interest in Sacramento &mdash; a necessity, its leaders say, because of the oil industry&rsquo;s &ldquo;unfortunate and undeserved&rdquo; negative image, as well as the strong environmental principles of the state&rsquo;s elected leaders. &ldquo;Their stated goal is to reduce petroleum use above all else,&rdquo; WSPA president Catherine Reheis-Boyd said. And with millions of Californians dependent on gasoline-powered vehicles, &ldquo;the facts dictate us being very much part of that conversation, no matter where California goes.&rdquo;</p>
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After 26 years with the trade group, Reheis-Boyd is the soft-spoken public face of the oil industry, backed up by a team of lobbyists. She leads an organization that is decidedly old school: Each winter, it hosts a reception for lawmakers at the upscale Esquire Grill a few blocks from the Capitol building, and continues to wine and dine them throughout the year, often in tandem with its smaller counterpart, the <a href="http://www.cipa.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1">California Independent Petroleum Association</a>, or CIPA. In 2015, for instance, when state lawmakers convened for an annual corporate-sponsored summit in Maui, WSPA treated nine legislators to dinner at Spago, running up a $3,300 tab. The following month, CIPA whisked 22 lawmakers and two candidates to its oil symposium at the Resort at Pelican Hill, a five-star property in Newport Beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Two state senators and a Senate candidate enjoyed $300 rounds of golf. The outings are legal under the state&rsquo;s campaign finance laws.</p>
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But WSPA&rsquo;s real influence stems from the millions more its members &mdash; including <a href="https://www.chevron.com/">Chevron</a>, California&rsquo;s third-largest company by revenue &mdash; pour into a network of political action committees &mdash; outside groups designed to boost industry allies and target critics under innocuous names such as the <a href="http://restorethemiddleclassca.com/">Coalition to Restore California&rsquo;s Middle Class</a>. They run attack ads and send out mailers to influence campaigns as well as legislation. &ldquo;Unless leadership directly intervenes for a bill, the oil industry can hold it hostage,&rdquo; said former Assemblyman Das Williams, a Santa Barbara Democrat who chaired the California Assembly&rsquo;s Natural Resources Committee. &ldquo;On any given day, they&rsquo;ve got between six and nine Democrats, in addition to most of the Republicans.&rdquo; That approaches half the 80-member Assembly, and that bipartisan coalition has established a track record of watering down or blocking climate-related legislation.</p>
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The industry had already changed the rules of legislative debate; in 2010, Chevron was the leading corporate sponsor of a ballot measure to require a two-thirds vote, rather than a simple majority, for state and local governments to enact new fees on businesses.</p>
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When energy-related bills pass the Legislature, WSPA and its members have a hand in how rules are crafted and laws are enforced. Lobbyists pick up meals for regulators at fast-food restaurants, refinery cafeterias and oceanfront resorts. Oil executives and state regulators meet as an &ldquo;oil and gas work group&rdquo; to discuss rulemaking, and WSPA&rsquo;s Reheis-Boyd was even appointed to a state panel that helped create marine sanctuaries. Last year, when an assemblyman filed a request to audit the state agency that administers the state&rsquo;s cap-and-trade program, the Microsoft Word file showed it had a different author: WSPA&rsquo;s chief lobbyist. The lawmaker&rsquo;s chief of staff told the Los Angeles Times that the group, like any other special interest, &ldquo;tend[s] to have the policy expertise when we have questions.&rdquo;</p>
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<em>Troubled Regulator</em></p>
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When California established an oil regulator &mdash; what&rsquo;s now the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/natural-resources-agency/department_of_conservation?agencyid=158">Department of Conservation</a>&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dog">Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources</a>, or DOGGR &mdash; a century ago, it wasn&rsquo;t with the environment in mind. The state was acting at the behest of oil executives who were tired of fighting over land and fouling one another&rsquo;s projects. The agency&rsquo;s role was to help companies &ldquo;win from the ground the greatest amount of oil at the least expense,&rdquo; officials wrote just after passage of the 1915 law that created the Department of Petroleum and Gas. &ldquo;It is not our desire to assume the role of a prosecuting officer thrusting regulations upon unwilling subjects.&rdquo;</p>
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Even as California changed &mdash; birthing the modern environmental movement and leading the way on renewable energy &mdash; the approach of oil regulators did not. A 2007 state audit found one DOGGR field office that was run like an industry fiefdom, with regulators buying stock in companies they oversaw. One official told a firm how to circumvent a planned moratorium on new oil permits and routinely asked oil companies to make contributions to the charity that employed his wife. Most important, regulators rarely asked companies for proof that their operations were not endangering potential sources of drinking water, as required by state and federal law.</p>
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Elena Miller inherited the agency in 2009. An attorney at the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/natural-resources-agency/california_energy_commission?agencyid=150">California Energy Commission</a> and then the state <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/independent-agencies/department_of_corrections_and_rehabilitation?agencyid=223">Department of Corrections</a>, Miller had come full circle: she had begun her law career as a paralegal for <a href="http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/our-history/heritage-brands/history-of-arco-ampm.html">Atlantic Richfield Company</a>, or ARCO, in the 1990s, working on Alaska pipeline litigation and later living in oil-rich Venezuela. When she began requesting well-casing diagrams from the oil industry, it was, by historical standards, earthshaking. The extra scrutiny slowed the issuance of drilling permits. Then Robert David Taylor met his end in a Kern County sinkhole. Miller and her boss at the state Department of Conservation, Derek Chernow, compiled a binder of spills, seeps and eruptions related to steam injection and insisted that companies document every well near an injection site &mdash; fluids could travel through old, broken or unstable wells and taint fresh water &mdash; before receiving new permits. &ldquo;Imagine that,&rdquo; Chernow wrote Miller, &ldquo;A regulator not in bed with the regulated.&rdquo;</p>
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The <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/independent-agencies/environmental-protection-agency-epa?agencyid=7326">U.S. EPA</a> encouraged the crackdown. Its audit of California&rsquo;s underground injection program, the first comprehensive review in three decades, came out just after Taylor&rsquo;s death and found state regulators failing by nearly every measure: They weren&rsquo;t properly calculating the impacts of drilling on drinking water, ensuring sound well construction or penalizing companies that broke the law; a state report later found that DOGGR had failed to collect millions of dollars in unpaid fines. Federal officials ordered the state to step up scrutiny of oil projects. Already unhappy with how Miller&rsquo;s oversight had slowed drilling, the Western States Petroleum Association proposed a shortcut: Regulators would grant permits without the usual environmental reviews, and oil companies would provide the assessments later.</p>
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The idea was rejected, but WSPA was undeterred.&nbsp; Behind the scenes, oil-industry representatives lobbied lawmakers and deployed state power brokers, including former Gov. Gray Davis, legal counsel for <a href="http://www.oxy.edu/">Occidental</a>, the country&rsquo;s fourth-largest oil company. WSPA orchestrated a letter-writing campaign; before long Brown&rsquo;s office was flooded with missives from oil executives and workers alike, all claiming the industry was on the verge of a shutdown. Brown had a choice: He could back his regulators and risk antagonizing industry &mdash; or he could spur energy production and make a powerful ally in the process.</p>
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<em>&#39;Governor Moonbeam&#39;</em></p>
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<p>
In the 1970s, Jerry Brown cemented his place in the national imagination as &ldquo;Governor Moonbeam,&rdquo; a liberal dreamer who embodied California cool &mdash; or California kook, depending on where one stood. He drove a Plymouth Satellite, spurned the governor&rsquo;s mansion for a mattress on an apartment floor and dated singer Linda Ronstadt. But beneath that caricature lay a policy wonk who embraced the environmental movement like no politician had before. Confronted with California&rsquo;s booming population and stifling pollution &mdash; smog alerts regularly forced schools to cancel recess &mdash; he enacted the nation&rsquo;s first energy-efficiency standards, signed strict clean-air laws, and blocked offshore oil drilling.</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown&rsquo;s worldview, however, was tempered by a 28-year odyssey after he left Sacramento, one that took him from charity work with Mother Teresa in Calcutta to another failed presidential campaign (there were three in all) to the mayor&rsquo;s office in Oakland beginning in 1999. Friends say Brown&rsquo;s time in Oakland was seminal. Keen to jump-start redevelopment in the struggling city, he had to deal with a patchwork of state agencies and a thicket of environmental regulations, some of which he had championed as governor.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Re-elected to the state&rsquo;s top office in 2010, Brown was singularly focused on the economy: with recession still rippling through the state, California faced a $27 billion deficit and a record unemployment rate of 12.1 percent. Brown barely mentioned the environment during his first State of the State address, a speech so focused on fiscal discipline it could have been delivered at a Republican fundraiser. &ldquo;At a time when more than two million Californians are out of work,&rdquo; Brown told the Legislature, &ldquo;we must search out and strip away any accumulated burdens or unreasonable regulations that stand in the way of investment and job creation.&rdquo; The message was clear: If ideology had dominated Brown&rsquo;s first stay in the governor&rsquo;s office, pragmatism would dominate the second.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Having campaigned on a promise not to raise taxes without voter approval, Brown moved quickly to lay the groundwork for a ballot measure that would hike levies on the wealthy. It was a risky move. Brown had just spent $36 million to get elected, and now he had to go back to his affluent donors, as well as the business community, and ask for more &mdash; all for an initiative that would target people like them. With its deep pockets, the oil industry could help pass or kill the measure, Proposition 30. And, at that particular moment, it wanted no-fuss drilling permits from state regulators. According to memos and emails obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, Brown&rsquo;s office began pushing for a shortcut, one that would allow drilling to proceed without full environmental reviews.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Chernow was astounded. A former legislative aide and conservation advocate, he believed in his department&rsquo;s mission.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In October of 2011, four months after Taylor&rsquo;s death, he and Miller pushed back. &ldquo;This approach is simply contrary to law,&rdquo; Chernow wrote in a memo to his superiors. The U.S. EPA had asked the state to tighten its standards, not relax them, he said, warning that the proposed shortcut would likely draw legal challenges from environmental groups.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The following day, the regulators were summoned to the governor&rsquo;s office. There, Chernow alleged in court filings, one of Brown&rsquo;s senior advisors told them to fast-track the permits. The aide then handed Chernow a proposal modeled on the one WSPA had presented earlier. The regulators were incensed. In a follow-up call, tensions flared. According to a declaration by Chernow, Miller told Brown&rsquo;s advisor that the proposal would break the law. The aide shot back: This is an order from the governor. The next day, Brown fired Chernow and Miller &mdash; a move the oil industry applauded.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown&rsquo;s decision to relax regulations turned on &ldquo;making sure all these people didn&rsquo;t come after Prop 30 with a knife,&rdquo; said a source familiar with the governor&rsquo;s thinking. There was ample cause for concern. In 2006, the oil industry had outspent environmentalists to kill an initiative that sought to place a tax on crude oil. The $154 million fight had set a new spending record for ballot-measure battles in California. Brown and his top aides declined to be interviewed for this story, but spokesman Gareth Lacey dismissed as &ldquo;ridiculous&rdquo; any claim that the governor&rsquo;s actions were influenced by his tax campaign. He also disputed Chernow&rsquo;s characterization of events. &ldquo;The expectation &mdash; clearly communicated &mdash; was and always has been full compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Nonetheless, Brown replaced Chernow and Miller &mdash; who declined interview requests &mdash; with appointees more sympathetic to the oil industry. The new oil and gas supervisor was a longtime DOGGR manager who&rsquo;d worked in the agency&rsquo;s Bakersfield office. In the months after the firings, regulators approved nearly 80 permits that had been on hold. Stephen Chazen, president and CEO of Occidental, told investors during an earnings call that Brown had prompted the &ldquo;change in attitude.&rdquo; &ldquo;We&rsquo;re pleased with the governor&rsquo;s involvement,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown himself began using the firings as evidence of his commitment to pare regulations &mdash; and made clear that oil was still vital to California&rsquo;s economy. In January of 2012, at a press conference intended to showcase the state&rsquo;s commitment to solar energy, Brown veered from his prepared remarks to note &ldquo;the oil rigs are moving in Kern County&rdquo; and affirm the state&rsquo;s status as an energy leader. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not easy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are going to be screw-ups. There are going to be bankruptcies. There will be indictments, and there will be deaths. But we&#39;re going to keep going.&rdquo; That day, Occidental gave $250,000 to Brown&rsquo;s tax campaign. Not long after, it gave another $100,000, this time to the Oakland Military Institute, a charter school Brown had founded as the city&rsquo;s mayor. That November, Brown&rsquo;s tax measure, Proposition 30, passed easily. Oil companies had contributed more than $1 million to the campaign. More important, they hadn&rsquo;t opposed it.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>What Killed Mike Hopkins&#39;s Orchard?</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The heart of California&rsquo;s oil industry is a short drive from Los Angeles, on the other side of the Tehachapi Mountains and past a curtain of smog so thick that it comes with its own color-coded warning system (green for good air quality, yellow for moderate, red for unhealthy). Orchards, vineyards and fields stretch to the horizon, sharing the fertile valley floor with pump jacks and derricks. Kern County accounts for 70 percent of California&rsquo;s oil production, and more than 40,000 people hold energy-related jobs. One high school&rsquo;s mascot is a driller, and the town of Taft, near where Robert David Taylor died, crowns an Oil Queen every year.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Mike Hopkins grew up in the county and studied agriculture at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and the University of Arizona. For his senior project, he mapped out an almond orchard, and he&rsquo;s been farming ever since. In the fall of 2011, around the time Brown fired the oil regulators, one of Hopkins&rsquo;s most fecund parcels of land was in Rosedale, a 58-acre orchard that bore almonds and cherries. Over the next three years, state oil regulators paved the way for a six-fold increase in injection projects, cutting their typical review time in half. Hopkins began to notice changes in the Rosedale field.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
First, his cherry trees wilted. &ldquo;I actually had one of my neighbors drive by and say, &lsquo;Hey, are you abandoning your cherries?&rsquo; And I said, &lsquo;No, why?&rsquo; and he said, &lsquo;They look like shit.&rsquo;&rdquo; Hopkins hired scientific consultants who found high levels of salt and boron in the soil and water &mdash; a death sentence for most plants. &ldquo;This is something that&rsquo;s not natural,&rdquo; a water company official told him.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The injection wells and rusting storage tanks that had ringed his ranch for decades suddenly appeared menacing. Hopkins called oil producers in the area and visited the local office of DOGGR, the agency Miller and Chernow had overseen. No one, Hopkins said, could offer any explanation for the contamination. Soon, the cherry trees began to die, and after a lackluster harvest in 2012 Hopkins decided to pull the orchard. &ldquo;It hurts you,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know it doesn&rsquo;t sound like you can equate the two, but if you had a herd of goats or cattle, and you did everything in the world to feed them and nurture them, and they started dying, and you had to kill them all &mdash; same feeling.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Hopkins soon learned that salt and boron were waste products of oil drilling: each barrel of crude that firms bring to the surface is accompanied by more than 15 barrels of briny water. That mixture of toxic substances is often re-injected into &ldquo;exempted&rdquo; aquifers, geologic formations that were written off as underground garbage dumps decades ago, typically because they either do not contain water or the water is too contaminated or too deep to retrieve. After reviewing state records, Hopkins filed a lawsuit, accusing four oil companies that operate near his orchard of injecting their wastewater into aging and damaged wells without first surveying the area to ensure containment. Idled and abandoned wells &mdash; some just 200 feet from his ranch &mdash; served as pollution pathways to his groundwater, he alleges.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In August, the height of harvest season, the air was thick with dust as farm workers shook almonds from nearby trees, some of which showed signs of wilting. Hopkins drove to the spot in his orchard where, over the course of three days, he had watched as backhoes yanked row after row of cherry trees &mdash; 2,232 in all. Now, the field is full of pistachio trees, which are hardier but will take years to mature and start producing nuts. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to tell a farmer not to grow something if it&rsquo;s in their blood,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>&#39;I Don&#39;t Even Feel Like They Care&#39;</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Hopkins wasn&rsquo;t the only one worried about water. California&rsquo;s oil boom coincided with a record drought; the rains and snowpack that typically provide much of the water for the state&rsquo;s agricultural industry slowed to a trickle, prompting farmers to tap unprecedented amounts of groundwater. In fact, in the Central Valley, they sucked so much from basins that the ground in some areas began to sink at a pace of a foot a year. With such parched conditions, and with aquifers becoming the largest source of water for growers as well as the general public, federal officials took a closer look at how California was protecting its subterranean supplies from oil drilling. After reviewing aquifer maps, they grew concerned that state regulators were violating the Safe Drinking Water Act by allowing wastewater injections outside approved zones, potentially fouling what hydrologists referred to as the state&rsquo;s &ldquo;reserve banking account&rdquo; of water. U.S. EPA officials asked DOGGR for more information. What they got back, in 2014, was shocking.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Over the previous 30 years, the state had allowed oil companies to inject wastewater into nearly a dozen aquifers that were supposed to be protected by federal law &mdash; some containing water clean enough to drink without treatment. About half of the more than 2,500 suspect injection wells had gotten permits since Brown took office, The Associated Press found. In a preliminary review of the riskiest sites, the state shut down nearly two-dozen wells, saying their operation &ldquo;poses danger to life, health, property, and natural resources.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;California is a world leader when it comes to adopting green legislation. But these measures are only as good as their implementation,&rdquo; said Jared Blumenfeld, a former EPA regional administrator who oversaw the state. &ldquo;Without proper institutional support, funding and enforcement, environmental laws become paper tigers.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
State lawmakers demanded answers, but they were hard to come by. Not only had the oil agency failed to deliver a mandatory annual report to the Legislature for three years, but an internal review by DOGGR found that injection project files also were &ldquo;confusing, information-deficient, overly generic, or simply absent.&rdquo; At a state Senate oversight hearing in early 2015, Brown administration officials conceded they had made mistakes but cast them as the result of an understaffed agency beleaguered by unqualified workers and poor recordkeeping. Some lawmakers weren&rsquo;t buying it. &ldquo;There is a culture here that has been so much moved by the oil and gas industry,&rdquo; said Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Democrat from Santa Barbara.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Regulators assured the Legislature that they had found no contamination of drinking water &mdash; but that assessment came with a large caveat. Shoddy records meant that they would never be able to say with any certainty how much water had been lost. &ldquo;Many aquifers had no baseline water quality data,&rdquo; Blumenfeld said, &ldquo;so it&rsquo;s often impossible to determine the extent of contamination from decades of oil industry injection.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
About 300 miles south of Sacramento, Natalie Beller, a registered nurse who lives in the Central Coast town of Arroyo Grande, stopped drinking and cooking with her well water. Tucked into a scenic canyon, her home is a little more than a mile from the Arroyo Grande oil field, where the state had allowed companies to inject into a protected aquifer and where Phillips 66 was building a pipeline that would carry crude past her property. Looking at the yellow warning posts from her kitchen window, Beller imagined her daughter, now 6, drinking tainted water. &ldquo;Anybody living out here is on well water,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I just can&rsquo;t believe it&rsquo;s so easy to sacrifice the health and safety of fellow human beings.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The EPA gave California an ultimatum: shut down the most dangerous wells and submit the rest for formal &ldquo;exemption&rdquo; &mdash; or risk a federal takeover. Oil companies &mdash; including one that wanted to expand its operations in the Arroyo Grande field &mdash; asked for a number of exemptions. Beller and her neighbors objected to the Arroyo Grande proposal but it was approved by DOGGR and the state water board; the EPA still must sign off. &ldquo;My experience with our state government agencies has been really disappointing,&rdquo; Beller said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel like they&rsquo;re representing me. I don&rsquo;t even feel like they care.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>Oil Targets the &#39;Mod Squad&#39;</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
As Brown coasted to a fourth &mdash; and final &mdash; term in late 2014, environmentalists were confused and irritated: was the governor their ally? In addition to easing drilling rules, he had resisted calls to ban fracking and pass a severance tax on oil. At the same time, he had pushed policies that made California a leader on efforts to combat climate change, such as requiring the state to get a third of its electricity from renewable sources and offering rebates for electric cars to juice the market for zero-emission vehicles. When Brown addressed the state Democratic Party&rsquo;s convention in Los Angeles, as he pledged to manage the state&rsquo;s water &ldquo;in a careful, efficient, and wise way,&rdquo; hecklers interrupted: &ldquo;No fracking! Ban fracking!&rdquo; Brown raised his voice. &ldquo;I challenge anybody to find any other state&rdquo; doing as much to fight global warming, he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Indeed, with the state&rsquo;s deficit erased and its economy surging, he began speaking with new urgency about climate change. Addressing a United Nations summit in New York, he called it an &ldquo;existential threat&rdquo; to humanity and decried the &ldquo;toxicity of carbon itself.&rdquo; With the state on track to achieve its original goals for reducing greenhouse gases, the governor proposed even more ambitious ones: within the next 15 years, he said, California should get half its electricity from renewable sources, double the energy-efficiency of existing buildings &mdash; and cut petroleum use by 50 percent. Democrats had a near-supermajority in the Legislature. And Brown had a powerful partner to shepherd his plan through: Kevin de Le&oacute;n, a Los Angeles Democrat and the Senate president pro tempore. But neither politician appreciated how WSPA and its members had reshaped the caucus.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In recent years, California had adopted a &ldquo;top-two&rdquo; electoral system: candidates of all parties compete in an open primary, and the top two vote-getters face off in a general election. That meant many contests that would have been decided in a partisan primary, with nominal opposition in the general, now continued into November &mdash; essentially doubling the cost of campaigning. The oil industry saw an opportunity. With environmental advocates concentrated in the largely white, rich enclaves on the coast, the industry wooed moderate Latino and African-American lawmakers from urban and rural districts where energy firms tend to operate. These communities are often choked by pollution but also have some of the lowest voter-turnout rates in the state.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a direct correlation between how few voters participate in your district and your propensity to be influenced by special-interest money,&rdquo; said Republican strategist Mike Madrid, noting that both environmental groups and oil companies fill that civic vacuum. Since 2012, however, it&rsquo;s the energy industry that has made a full-court press for moderates, showering more than $12 million on their campaigns and the outside groups dedicated to their elections.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
This bloc of votes, the so-called mod squad, is often an impediment to climate-change initiatives. &ldquo;We are spending as much time as we can with anyone, and I would say it&rsquo;s either side, Republican or Democratic, that are moderate in their view, because we are very firm in our belief that you have got to have both a strong economy and a strong environment in this state,&rdquo; WSPA&rsquo;s Reheis-Boyd said. Moderates say they want more control over climate programs that penalize industry without clear results in their districts. &ldquo;On these environmental issues, it&rsquo;s the haves versus the have-nots,&rdquo; said Assemblyman Jim Cooper, co-chair of the moderate caucus and a Democrat whose district lies just south of Sacramento. &ldquo;These environmentalists, I think they&rsquo;re well intentioned, but everything that&rsquo;s happened, the benefits go to the affluent. In the meantime, the disadvantaged and the middle class have been left behind.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Within weeks of de Le&oacute;n&rsquo;s introducing a bill to enshrine Brown&rsquo;s goals in law, oil companies and their trade groups began dispensing money to moderate legislators and the black and Latino caucuses. In the last three months of the 2015 legislative session, they spent $11.5 million on lobbying, more than any other industry. WSPA accounted for more than half of that amount. By contrast, <a href="https://nextgenclimate.org/">NextGen Climate Action</a>, its most moneyed environmental rival, spent $1.2 million.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
After nearly a decade of service in Sacramento, de Le&oacute;n had never seen anything like it. Although he had accepted oil company contributions in his career, the lawmaker had come to see climate change as a defining issue. Carbon emissions had had a devastating impact on his Los Angeles district, a diverse swath of poor and working-class neighborhoods, hemmed in by six major freeways and winds carrying harmful ozone pollution from the coast.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Appearing before the Assembly&rsquo;s Natural Resources Committee, he urged his colleagues to reject the oil industry&rsquo;s onslaught. &ldquo;You will hear a carefully calculated blend of factual inaccuracies, logical fallacies, errors of omission, and scare tactics. &hellip; Folks would like you to believe that this is a scene out of a movie of &lsquo;Mad Max,&rsquo;&rdquo; he said. In the post-apocalyptic action films, oil is a rare commodity.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Seated at a table in a hearing room, WSPA lobbyist Eloy Garcia told lawmakers the bill set aggressive goals without specifics on how to achieve them. As a result, he said, those decisions would be made by the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/california-environmental-protection-agency/air-resources-board?agencyid=120">California Air Resources Board</a>, the &ldquo;vast [and] unrestrained&rdquo; executive agency charged with implementing the state&rsquo;s climate programs. &ldquo;The people of California expect you to make those decisions,&rdquo; Garcia told the committee. &ldquo;Power flows from the constitution to the Legislature, down to the regulators, not the other way.&rdquo; De Le&oacute;n&rsquo;s bill, seeking a 50-percent cut in oil use, was, he said, unrealistic and arbitrary.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;When we set round numbers like 50, 50, 50, why 50? No one&#39;s asking the question,&rdquo; Garcia said. &ldquo;Why not 62? Why not 70? Why not 58?&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
De Le&oacute;n fired back. &ldquo;I agree with Mr. Eloy Garcia. If we want to go 68, 50, 70. ... That&rsquo;s promoted by WSPA,&rdquo; he said, flashing a smile.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Why not do 100 percent and justify that to your constituents, that you&#39;re going to take all their fuel away?&rdquo; Garcia responded.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
That summer, WSPA&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.californiadriversalliance.org/about/">&ldquo;California Drivers Alliance&rdquo;</a> launched an ad campaign. In one spot, a woman in a black blazer stands at a gas station and says: &ldquo;If you can afford a Tesla, then this message really won&rsquo;t matter to you.&rdquo; She warns that &ldquo;the California Gas Restriction Act of 2015&rdquo; &mdash; its actual name was the <a href="http://www.energy.ca.gov/sb350/">Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act</a> &mdash; will result in gas rationing and higher fuel costs. &ldquo;But really, it&rsquo;s about making it harder for regular people to drive to work and drive home each day.&rdquo; Environmental groups pushed back with their own ads, and President Obama championed the legislation in an energy speech. But by late August, moderate Democrats were seeking concessions and WSPA offered three pages of amendments to lawmakers and the governor&rsquo;s office.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Days before the legislative session ended, de Le&oacute;n and Brown stripped the oil-reduction component from the bill. &ldquo;This is one skirmish,&rdquo; the governor said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ll tell you, it&rsquo;s increasing the intensity of my commitment to do everything I can to make sure we reduce oil consumption in California and continue on the path of leading the world in a sustainable future.&rdquo; The watered-down bill, which maintained Brown&rsquo;s renewable energy and efficiency targets, easily passed the Assembly and the governor signed it into law. In the weeks that followed, WSPA hosted three lawmakers at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California, where the group was holding its annual conference (one legislator racked up nearly $1,500 in expenses; all three had expressed reservations about the oil reduction target). Reheis-Boyd said WSPA&rsquo;s lobbying activities, in practice, were no different than those of other industries seeking to influence policymakers. &ldquo;There are opportunities to present your views to people who are interested in them,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and I think anyone would take that opportunity.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>A Win for Environmentalists &mdash; but an Uncertain Future</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A year later, dozens of environmental lobbyists gathered over chicken kabobs and cocktails at Hock Farm, a dimly lit, farm-to-table restaurant three blocks from the Capitol. It was August, four weeks before the end of the legislative session, and the mood was bittersweet. After 14 years in Sacramento, Sen. Fran Pavley, the Legislature&rsquo;s most prominent environmental champion, was retiring, but her top priority &mdash; a bill to toughen California&rsquo;s already-aggressive climate goals &mdash; was languishing in the Assembly. After WSPA&rsquo;s last campaign, few thought it would pass. Even Brown, for all his bombast the previous year, had been meeting with oil representatives in a bid to win support for his climate agenda.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Reflecting on their loss, environmentalists had hit on a key vulnerability: the movement&rsquo;s failure to build relationships in California&rsquo;s communities of color. As a result, oil companies had successfully cast climate change as a luxury issue for elites, disconnected from the economic realities of low-income and middle-class people. As Rob Stutzman, a Republican operative who has advised WSPA, put it: &ldquo;The enviros created a battlefield for industry to win on.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
De Le&oacute;n and others were determined to change the narrative. Pavley, who represents an affluent, coastal area in Los Angeles, found an unlikely partner in Eduardo Garcia, a first-term Latino assemblyman from the Inland Empire. Concerned about poor air quality in his desert district, he was pushing his own climate legislation, which would prioritize emission cuts at refineries while giving the Legislature more oversight of the Air Resources Board, something moderate Democrats wanted.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The symbolism of that pairing sent a strong message. In Garcia&rsquo;s district, one out of every four residents lives below the poverty line and unemployment approaches 11 percent, more than twice the statewide average. In Imperial County, east of San Diego, emergency room visits by children due to asthma are double California&rsquo;s rate. &ldquo;The discussion about preservation and conservation and climate-changing patterns and polar bears dying is extremely important to people,&rdquo; Garcia said. &ldquo;But my perspective is how about we put people at the core of the conversation, public health of people, the economic vibrancy of these communities of color that tend to be in the higher proportions of polluted communities.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The oil industry opposed the measures but environmentalists stepped up their lobbying. Reversing the previous year&rsquo;s dynamic, NextGen Climate Action spent $7.3 million on advocacy in the final three months of the legislative session &mdash; more than any other special interest and nearly three times WSPA&rsquo;s outlay. An ad featuring a little girl in front of a refinery blasted oil companies for &ldquo;trying to weaken our clean air laws.&rdquo;&nbsp; A coalition of mainstream environmental groups, environmental-justice advocates and clean-energy companies targeted moderate Democrats to correct the perception that &ldquo;environmentalism is a white issue,&rdquo; said Quentin Foster, of the <a href="http://caleja.org/">California Environmental Justice Alliance</a>. This time, instead of slamming critics as industry lackeys, they catered their approaches to individual lawmakers, emphasizing pollution-reduction efforts to some while playing up the economic opportunities of renewable energy to others. It worked. Catching oil lobbyists by surprise, supporters rushed the legislation to a vote in the Assembly heading into the final week of the session. The final tally was 42-29 &mdash; passage, with one vote to spare. The state Senate had already approved the legislation, and Brown lauded the Assembly for &ldquo;rejecting the brazen deception of the oil lobby and their Trump-inspired allies who deny science and fight every reasonable effort to curb global warming.&rdquo; Two weeks later, with de Le&oacute;n, Pavley and Garcia by his side, the governor signed the bill into law. The setting: Vista Hermosa Natural Park in downtown Los Angeles, which was built atop an old oil field.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Since the defeat, some in Sacramento see oil&rsquo;s power slipping. The <a href="http://www.cadem.org/">California Democratic Party</a>, which has received $2.5 million from the oil and gas industry in the last decade, announced in November that it would no longer accept political donations from oil companies. The announcement came after news that the state&rsquo;s campaign finance watchdog had opened an investigation into allegations that the party had improperly funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry to Brown&rsquo;s re-election campaign in 2014. Party officials did not respond to a request for comment but have said they are cooperating with the probe. At the ballot box, the industry lost a marquee legislative race and failed to beat back a ballot measure to ban fracking and new wells in Monterey County, the state&rsquo;s fourth-largest oil-producing county, despite outspending backers roughly 30 to 1.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
On the other hand, November&rsquo;s elections swelled the ranks of moderate Democrats in the Legislature, giving the industry potential new allies. And oil companies are almost certain to benefit from the Trump administration, which has vowed to relax environmental regulations and overhaul agencies like the EPA, which has played a critical role in reforming DOGGR. &ldquo;Oil will use every trick in the book,&rdquo; said Dan Jacobson, head of the advocacy group <a href="http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/sites/environment/files/cpn/AMN-030117-A1/index.html">Environment California</a>. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to do whatever it takes to keep oil as the main form of energy that moves us from point A to point B.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Looking beyond Sacramento, WSPA and other oil trade groups spent nearly $12 million on lawyers, consultants and fees to persuade Kern County officials to streamline the local permitting process, clearing the way for tens of thousands of new oil wells. Reheis-Boyd said WSPA wanted &ldquo;regulatory certainty&rdquo; and called the new system, which charges companies higher fees to help fund clean-air programs, a model for other oil-producing areas. Environmentalists, however, are challenging the measure in court, saying it circumvents the state&rsquo;s landmark conservation law and doesn&rsquo;t go far enough to protect residents who already breathe some of the dirtiest air in the nation.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The industry also is waging battles to roll back emission rules in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. For millions of Californians, the stakes are high. Alejandro Valdez lives with his wife and two young sons in Wilmington, an industrial enclave near the Port of Los Angeles frequently enveloped in brown haze. Their bungalow borders the Phillips 66 refinery, which gives off odors so strong, especially at night, that &ldquo;I feel like throwing up,&rdquo; Valdez said. His older boy, Nathan, is lethargic and regularly gets nosebleeds and headaches. Noise deprives the family of sleep; some days, black smoke from flares fills the sky. Everyone has rashes. Valdez likes the neighborhood, loathes the hulking complex just across the fence. &ldquo;I got a good price for the house,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s not worth it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The biggest test of oil&rsquo;s power could come this year, as Brown seeks legislation to save the state&rsquo;s embattled cap-and-trade program, the linchpin of California&rsquo;s climate-change efforts. The program, which requires companies to purchase permits in order to emit greenhouse gases, provides a key source of revenue for the state&rsquo;s anti-pollution efforts, but the <a href="https://www.calchamber.com/Pages/default.aspx">California Chamber of Commerce</a> has challenged it in court, alleging that cap-and-trade is an unconstitutional tax, passed without the required two-thirds majority of the Legislature. To eliminate any uncertainty, the governor wants lawmakers to effectively bulletproof the program with a supermajority vote &mdash; a feat that will require support from the moderate Democrats who have bucked past climate bills. To win their votes, Brown will likely have to make concessions &mdash; and WSPA has long sought leverage to water down or eliminate a rule that requires oil companies to reduce the amount of carbon in their fuels. Brown and his aides insist they have the upper hand &mdash; more onerous pollution controls are on the table, they say &mdash; and have floated the prospect of a ballot measure to extend cap-and-trade if they fail in the Legislature. But such a fight with the oil industry would be expensive and risky, and if Brown loses, the defeat could have international implications for the fight against climate change; other countries, including China, see California&rsquo;s system as a model.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
For its part, DOGGR, the troubled oil and gas regulator, is in the midst of a multi-year &ldquo;renewal plan,&rdquo; dedicated to strengthening oversight of the industry and &ldquo;changing the culture of enforcement&rdquo; among state regulators, spokeswoman Teresa Schilling said. The agency has sponsored legislation that gives it more power to punish errant oil companies and by this week expects to have forced closure of more than 600 wells that were injecting production fluids and wastewater into protected aquifers, a key requirement under its federal agreement. (WSPA, CIPA and another trade group are challenging some of those closures in court.)</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Still, more than five and a half years after Robert David Taylor&rsquo;s death, DOGGR has yet to achieve a key objective: updating rules to regulate cyclic steaming. In a statement, Chevron called the accident &ldquo;a tragic and isolated incident,&rdquo; adding that it has &ldquo;a long track record of safely conducting cyclic steaming in the Midway-Sunset Field.&rdquo; Barred by state law from suing Chevron, Taylor&rsquo;s family filed a lawsuit against a contractor who worked on the site and another oil company with nearby steam operations; the parties settled last summer. The sole regulatory action in the case remains the one taken by state workplace inspectors. They fined Chevron $350 for failing to inform employees in writing of &ldquo;necessary safeguards&rdquo; for working near Well 20, where Taylor was swallowed by a sinkhole. The incident, they said, was an &ldquo;act of God.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>Jim Morris and Elizabeth Hernandez contributed to this story.</em></p>
<p>
<em>This story was co-published with The Nation.</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/02/13/20685/big-oil-s-grip-california">Big Oil&rsquo;s Grip on California</a> (by Michael J. Mishak, Center for Public Integrity)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/oil-industry-million-dollar-smokescreen-dooms-gasoline-cuts-in-climate-bill-150910?news=857393">Oil Industry &ldquo;Million-Dollar Smokescreen&rdquo; Dooms Gasoline Cuts in Climate Bill</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/chevron-flexes-its-post-citizens-united-muscles-in-richmond-election-140821?news=854027">Chevron Flexes Its Post-Citizens United Muscles in Richmond Election</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/where-is-the-money-going/oil-and-gas-lobbyists-in-sacramento-on-a-record-spending-pace-140407?news=852854">Oil and Gas Lobbyists In Sacramento on a Record Spending Pace</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2017-03-01T15:55:06-08:00860097http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/santa-cruz-police-see-homeland-security-betrayal-in-use-of-gang-roundup-as-cover-for-immigration-raid-170225?news=860097Top StoriesSanta Cruz Police See Homeland Security Betrayal in Use of Gang Roundup as Cover for Immigration Raid<p>
By Matthew Renda, Courthouse News Service</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (CN) &ndash; The chief of the Santa Cruz, California, police department on Thursday denounced what he said was the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-homeland-security?detailsDepartmentID=571">Department of Homeland Security</a> using a criminal roundup of dangerous gang members as cover for a widespread immigration raid.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Police Chief Keith Vogel and Assistant Chief Dan Flippo said Homeland Security lied to the police department by claiming the raid conducted Feb. 13 would be strictly related to the apprehension of members of a gang suspected of assorted criminal activity in the Santa Cruz area.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;This has violated the trust of our community and we cannot tell you how disappointed we are by the betrayal of the DHS,&rdquo; Vogel said during a press conference.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Vogel and Flippo both said they were clear and repeatedly underscored the department&rsquo;s participation was contingent on the operation being oriented exclusively to gang activity and not to the immigration status of the community&rsquo;s citizens.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
James Schawb, a spokesman for the San Francisco field office of <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-homeland-security/us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice?agencyid=7352">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a>, strongly denied participating in any raids other than those agreed to beforehand. He characterized Vogel&rsquo;s comments as &ldquo;reckless and disturbing.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The police department and ICE arrested 10 members of an MS-13, a gang that originated in Los Angeles and is mostly comprised of Central Americans predominantly from <a href="http://www.allgov.com/nations?nationID=3573">El Salvador</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The gang began operating in Santa Cruz, selling narcotics and engaging in extortion rackets, in about 2013, Flippo said. Gang members are also suspected of carrying out two unsolved homicides in the area.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Seven of the accused gang members received federal indictments on extortion charges, while the other three were arrested on drug charges.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
During a Santa Cruz City Council meeting held the day after the raid, several members of the Santa Cruz community &ndash; many from the Hispanic neighborhoods of Beach Flats, Live Oak and Lower Ocean &ndash; said their neighborhoods were subjected to more widespread immigration raids.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Acting on the assertions of the community members who flooded the council chambers, Flippo began making calls to Homeland Security to &ldquo;ascertain if the information we were hearing from our community was in fact accurate,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Flippo corroborated the assertions of the community, and &ldquo;the Department of Homeland Security, unbeknownst to us at the SCPD, had acted outside the scope of this operation and had detained and removed a number of individuals from various locations based on solely on their immigration status,&rdquo; Vogel said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The chief said the severing of trust means the department will no longer work with Homeland Security or ICE, its subsidiary agency.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But Schwab said the police department was clear before the event that some individuals may be held while their individual case histories are determined. He said that while 11 people were detained, 10 of them have been released and the last is being investigated on suspicion of gang affiliation.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Santa Cruz is a sanctuary city, and communities in California continue to feel unease due to President Donald Trump&rsquo;s promises to round up undocumented immigrants and deport them.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Trump has also threatened to withhold federal dollars from sanctuary cities, counties and states, including Santa Cruz.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But federal officials say this raid was planned before Trump&rsquo;s inauguration and had nothing to do with his policies.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Ryan L. Spradlin, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations in San Francisco, told the Associated Press that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s unfortunate when politics get intertwined with a well planned and executed public safety operation.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/programs-to-help-undocumented-immigrants-obtain-drivers-licenses-could-aid-trump-deportation-efforts-161214?news=859913">Programs to Help Undocumented Immigrants Obtain Drivers Licenses Could Aid Trump Deportation Efforts</a> (by Patrick G. Lee, ProPublica)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/big-business-warns-trump-of-damage-to-economy-from-mass-deportations-161212?news=859904">Big Business Warns Trump of Damage to Economy from Mass Deportations</a> (by Steve Peoples, Associated Press)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/california-lawmakers-to-enact-sweeping-laws-to-resist-trumps-mass-immigrant-deportation-threats-161210?news=859893">California Lawmakers to Enact Sweeping Laws to Resist Trump&rsquo;s Mass Immigrant Deportation Threats</a> (by Jennifer Medina, New York Times)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/mass-deportations-damage-us-housing-market-by-exacerbating-foreclosures-161209?news=859888">Mass Deportations Damage U.S. Housing Market by Exacerbating Foreclosures</a> (by Emily Badger, New York Times)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/USA/ca/news/controversies/immigration-agents-stalk-court-houses-to-arrest-people-when-they-pay-traffic-tickets-or-get-married-131031?news=851528">Immigration Agents Stalk Court Houses to Arrest People When They Pay Traffic Tickets or Get Married</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff and Danny Biederman, AllGov California)</p>
2017-02-25T15:55:06-08:00860000http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/oil-companies-face-deadline-to-stop-polluting-california-groundwater-160101?news=860000Top StoriesOil Companies Face Deadline to Stop Polluting California Groundwater<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<meta content="noindex" name="robots" />
</p>
<p>
By Peter Fimritec, San Francisco Chronicle via New York Times</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SAN FRANCISCO -- Seven oil companies, including petroleum giant <a href="https://www.chevron.com/">Chevron</a>, have been given until the end of the week by state officials to stop their decades-old practice of injecting oily wastewater into Central Valley aquifers or face penalties.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The state <a href="http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dog">Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources</a> ordered the companies to stop pumping wastewater from drilling operations into 10 underground aquifers, which the oil companies were using despite federal regulations protecting the groundwater.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The regulations require 30 active injection wells to be closed by Dec. 31 or ``we would pursue legal action and/or penalties,&#39;&#39; said Teresa Schilling, spokeswoman for the resources agency. Violations carry fines of $2,500 to $25,000 apiece. Schilling said most operators are complying or have already complied with the order.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
None of the aquifers is now used for drinking water, but environmentalists say they could be tapped in the future. Most are in the Bakersfield area, but one is in Solano County, near the Bunker Gas Field south of Dixon.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``This is a big deal because it&#39;s about protecting underground drinking water,&#39;&#39; said Keith Nakatani, the oil and gas program manager for the environmental group <a href="http://www.cleanwateraction.org/">Clean Water Action</a>. ``We are increasingly reliant on groundwater because of the recent drought and a loss of snowpack -- all the more reason to be protective of our resources. Yet the oil and gas industry has been allowed to pollute those resources for decades.&#39;&#39;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Disposal of oil and gas drilling wastewater is a big issue in the Central Valley, where most of California&#39;s petroleum production takes place. Kern County, the top oil-producing area in the state, accounts for 80 percent of California&#39;s oil.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The 10 aquifers in question were supposed to be protected by the state, but a bureaucratic snafu led officials to believe that the oil companies had obtained exemptions under the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sdwa">U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act</a>, which shields groundwater supplies from pollution.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The oil companies had been dumping leftover water from drilling for three decades by the time state regulators found out in 2014 that the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/independent-agencies/environmental-protection-agency-epa?agencyid=7326">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a> had never granted them permission to do so.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
There is no evidence that drinking water in the Central Valley has been contaminated, but the revelation caused a furor and prompted lawmakers to demand reforms at the state agency that regulates oil-field operations.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Five companies including Chevron Corp., which manages nine of the injection wells, and <a href="http://www.aaoginc.com/product/kern-river-holdings-inc/">Kern River Holdings Inc.</a>, which operates six, told the state they have set up replacement projects elsewhere.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``Chevron has developed alternative plans and will not be injecting into the aquifer subject to the Dec. 31, 2016, regulatory deadline,&#39;&#39; company spokeswoman Isabel Ordonez said in a statement.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The biggest impact will be on <a href="http://www.crc.com/">California Resources Corp</a>., which must shut down 10 active injection wells. Company officials could not be reached for comment.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The EPA ruled in 2015 that the 10 aquifers being used by the oil companies lie too close to the surface -- in one case, as shallow as 200 feet. Shallower water is usually better quality, with less salt, making it more suitable for drinking. Regulators and conservationists believe the potential use of the aquifers for drinking water should be protected.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
An 11th aquifer known as the Walker Formation has also been used by the oil companies since 1983, but a portion of that one is under review by the EPA for an exemption, which would allow continued wastewater injections.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The shutdown order this week is part of a major statewide crackdown. The state has issued a Feb. 15 deadline for oil companies to halt injections in at least 50 other aquifers in the Central Valley and elsewhere unless the operators obtain exemptions.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
California&#39;s oil fields contain large amounts of salty water, the remains of an ancient sea. As a result, oil drillers suck up 15 barrels of water for every barrel of oil they reap.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
If the water is clean enough, it can be treated and used for irrigation. But most of it contains other substances too, including boron and toxins that can poison groundwater and kill birds. The recommended way to get rid of it is to inject it into the ground, preferably into the oil-bearing formation or deep enough so that it won&#39;t seep into an aquifer.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The problem is that for 33 years, state regulators have allowed oil companies to inject billions of barrels of wastewater into aquifers that contained water clean enough to be used for drinking or irrigation. Recent studies indicate that some of the injections may have caused earthquakes.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The division of oil and gas has identified a total of 178 wells that had injected wastewater into legally protected aquifers, a few of which were close to drinking water wells. Some of the injection wells had already been shut down, and others had been converted into oil extraction wells.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Over the past couple of years, the division, which is part of the <a href="http://www.conservation.ca.gov/">California Department of Conservation</a>, has shut down more than two dozen of the remaining wells, most of them in Kern County, with a couple in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The state devised a schedule for the rest of the closures to give oil companies time to make other arrangements. The slow pace of the closures has infuriated environmentalists, who want state officials to follow up after the February closures and study the cumulative effects of all the injections instead of just wiping their hands clean after the deadline passes.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``The oil and gas industry is the most influential lobby in Sacramento, so this is a big step in the right direction, but a lot more needs to be done,&#39;&#39; Nakatani said. ``The state should now assess any damage resulting from these illegal injections, because there is no doubt there is pollution -- possibly irreversible pollution -- and the state should determine how to fix it.&#39;&#39;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/epa-backs-california-expansion-of-shadow-program-allowing-toxic-waste-pumping-into-water-reserves-160901?news=859412">EPA Backs California Expansion of Shadow Program Allowing Toxic Waste Pumping into Water Reserves</a> (by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/controversies/33-more-oil-injection-wells-closed-for-pumping-wastewater-into-aquifers-151019?news=857664">33 More Oil Injection Wells Closed for Pumping Wastewater into Aquifers</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/controversies/aquifer-polluting-oil-industry-injection-wells-to-be-closed-maybe-starting-in-six-months-150406?news=856163">Aquifer-Polluting Oil Industry Injection Wells to Be Closed, Maybe, Starting in Six Months</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/frackers-dump-3-billion-gallons-of-dangerous-wastewater-into-aquifers-141016?news=854550">Frackers Dump 3 Billion Gallons of Dangerous Wastewater into Aquifers</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/controversies/state-shuts-down-fracking-waste-injection-sites-as-possible-threats-to-aquifers-140721?news=853748">State Shuts Down Fracking Waste Injection Sites as Possible Threats to Aquifers</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2017-01-01T15:55:06-08:00859986http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/nations-top-climate-change-fighter-california-is-ready-to-roll-up-sleeves-and-go-it-alone-161228?news=859986Top StoriesNation’s Top Climate-Change Fighter, California, is ready to roll up Sleeves and Go It Alone<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<meta content="noindex" name="robots" />
</p>
<p>
By Adam Nagourney and Henry Fountain, New York Times</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
LOS ANGELES &mdash; Foreign governments concerned about climate change may soon be spending more time dealing with Sacramento, California, than Washington.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
President-elect Donald Trump has packed his Cabinet with nominees who dispute the science of global warming. He has signaled he will withdraw the United States from the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/world-leaders-to-uphold-paris-climate-accord-with-or-without-the-us-161115?news=859775">Paris climate agreement</a>. He has <a href="file:///C:/Users/Danny/Documents/allgovDB/Climate%20Change%20Denier%20Trump%20Cites%20Global%20Warming%20as%20Reason%20to%20Build%20Wall%20to%20Protect%20His%20Luxury%20Golf%20Course">belittled the notion of global warming</a> and attacked policies intended to combat it.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But California &mdash; a state that has for 50 years been a leader in environmental advocacy &mdash; is about to step into the breach. In a show of defiance, <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/officials/california_brown_jerry?officialid=228">Gov. Jerry Brown</a>, a Democrat, and legislative leaders said they would work directly with other nations and states to defend and strengthen what were already far and away the most aggressive policies to fight climate change in the nation. That includes a legislatively mandated target of reducing carbon emissions in California to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;California can make a significant contribution to advancing the cause of dealing with climate change, irrespective of what goes on in Washington,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t underestimate California&rsquo;s resolve if everything moves in this extreme climate denial direction. Yes, we will take action.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The environmental effort poses risks. Trump and Republicans have the power to undercut California&rsquo;s climate policies. &ldquo;They could basically stop enforcement of the Clean Air Act and CO2 emissions,&rdquo; said Hal Harvey, president of <a href="http://energyinnovation.org/">Energy Innovation</a>, a policy research group in San Francisco.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
And some business leaders warned that California&rsquo;s embrace of environmental regulations could put it at a disadvantage, all the more so as conservatives elsewhere move to roll back environmental regulations.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Still, Democrats relish the prospect of challenging Trump on climate change. And California has the weight to get into the ring: It is one of the 10 largest economies in the world.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;This is not something that&rsquo;s going to be fueled by dislike of Donald Trump,&rdquo; said Adrienne Alvord, the western states director for the <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>. &ldquo;This will be fueled by people liking these policies and wanting to see them continue. Our leadership and the people of California support the science.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Alvord said that the fossil-fuel industry may feel emboldened to take on some of the state&rsquo;s energy and climate initiatives.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;But they would be fighting a very uphill battle,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Politically, it&rsquo;s going to be very difficult to really slow this train down.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/world-leaders-to-uphold-paris-climate-accord-with-or-without-the-us-161115?news=859775">World Leaders to Uphold Paris Climate Accord, With or Without the U.S.</a> (by Karl Ritter, Associated Press)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/controversies/california-sixthgrade-science-books-on-the-fence-over-climate-change-151112?news=857838">California Sixth&ndash;Grade Science Books on the Fence over Climate Change</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/oil-industry-million-dollar-smokescreen-dooms-gasoline-cuts-in-climate-bill-150910?news=857393">Oil Industry &ldquo;Million-Dollar Smokescreen&rdquo; Dooms Gasoline Cuts in Climate Bill</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/38-of-californians-mostly-republicans-deny-climate-change-affects-the-state-150731?news=857090">38% of Californians, Mostly Republicans, Deny Climate Change Affects the State</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/california-drought-very-likely-due-to-climate-change-14-towns-soon-to-run-out-of-water-141003?news=854432">California Drought &ldquo;Very Likely&rdquo; Due to Climate Change; 14 Towns Soon to Run Out of Water</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/study-links-california-drought-to-global-warming-140429?news=853031">Study Links California Drought to Global Warming</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2016-12-28T15:55:06-08:00859977http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-freezes-voter-approved-rush-to-death-penalty-161227?news=859977Top StoriesCalifornia Freezes Voter-Approved Rush to Death Penalty<p>
By Nick Cahill, Courthouse News Service</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
(CN) &ndash; Six weeks after California voters approved a measure to speed up California&rsquo;s death penalty appeals process, the state <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/judicial-branch/supreme_court_of_california?agencyid=186">Supreme Court</a> last week froze the implementation of <a href="http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/en/propositions/66/">Proposition 66</a> in order to hear a challenge from capital punishment opponents.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The court will allow the lawsuit filed by former California Attorney General John Van de Kamp to continue and gave respondents <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/officials/california_brown_jerry?officialid=228">Gov. Jerry Brown</a> and state <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/officials/california_harris_kamala?officialid=231">Attorney General Kamala Harris</a> until Jan. 9 to file a response. The ruling provides &ldquo;time for further consideration&rdquo; of Van de Kamp&rsquo;s attempt to halt the contentious new law.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Voters narrowly approved the death penalty reform measure, which was certified on December 16 by state officials with 51 percent of the vote.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Supporters say the measure will speed up California&rsquo;s dysfunctional death penalty process by limiting state appeals of death sentences to five years and transfer habeas petitions from the state Supreme Court back to the court and judge that heard the original trial. California has executed just 13 inmates since 1978, despite having the largest death row of any state.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Van de Kamp and Ron Briggs, whose father authored the measure that reinstated the death penalty in 1978, claim Proposition 66 would eliminate inmates&rsquo; ability to file proper appeals by setting unrealistic and short timelines for judges to handle often complex cases. They filed their challenge with the California Supreme Court one day after the general election.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Critics of capital punishment placed a competing measure on the November ballot which sought to abolish the death penalty in California. They argued the seldom-used capital punishment system costs taxpayers billions and carries a heightened risk of executing an innocent person.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
That measure, <a href="http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/en/propositions/62/arguments-rebuttals.htm">Proposition 62</a>, was rejected by voters, receiving just 46 percent of the vote.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/capital-punishment-activists-battle-over-californias-new-lethal-injection-plan-160127?news=858172">Capital Punishment Activists Battle over California&rsquo;s New Lethal Injection Plan</a> (by Sharon Bernstein, Reuters)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/californias-death-penalty-reanimated-on-a-legal-technicality-151113?news=857842">California&rsquo;s Death Penalty Reanimated on a Legal Technicality</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/USA/ca/news/top-stories/california-proposes-a-one-drug-solution-to-re-animate-the-death-penalty-151109?news=857815">California Proposes a One-Drug Solution to Re-Animate the Death Penalty</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/controversies/california-back-on-the-slow-path-to-resuming-executions-150604?news=856643">California Back on the Slow Path to Resuming Executions</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/federal-judge-strikes-down-already-stalled-california-death-penalty-140717?news=853712">Federal Judge Strikes Down Already-Stalled California Death Penalty</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/3-ex-california-governors-unite-in-a-cause-speedier-executions-140214?news=852431">3 Ex-California Governors Unite in a Cause: Speedier Executions</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2016-12-27T15:55:06-08:00859968http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-bill-would-require-release-of-tax-returns-for-presidential-candidates-to-appear-on-state-ballot-161225?news=859968Top StoriesCalifornia Bill Would Require Release of Tax Returns for Presidential Candidates to Appear on State Ballot<p>
By Nick Cahill, Courthouse News Service</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) &ndash; California lawmakers announced a bill Monday that would require any presidential candidate to release at least five years of tax returns in order to be listed on the Golden State&rsquo;s ballot.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Blasting President-elect Donald Trump&rsquo;s decision to buck a long-standing trend of candidates releasing their tax returns, two state senators hope the proposal will &ldquo;help make transparency great again.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The American people deserve honesty and transparency from their president. Unfortunately, we are getting lies and obfuscation from President-elect Trump, especially in regards to how his business interests may impact his administration,&rdquo; newly elected state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said in a statement.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In both debates and interviews, Trump defended his decision by claiming that he&rsquo;s under a federal audit and that his attorneys advised him not to participate in the standard presidential practice. Every president since Jimmy Carter has released at least partial tax returns.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Wiener and state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, modeled their bill after a New York proposal coined the TRUMP Act. The Empire State&rsquo;s Tax Returns Uniformly Made Public Act &ndash; S8217 &ndash; requires presidential candidates to release five years of tax returns no less than 50 days prior to the general election, or be left off the statewide ballot.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The California version also requires vice-presidential candidates to release their returns to voters in order to be listed on the ballot of the most-populous state.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Transparency is a non-partisan issue,&rdquo; McGuire said. &ldquo;The world is a dangerous place and all potential conflicts of interest a future president may have, let alone dangerous ties a candidate may have with a foreign government, must be disclosed. This legislation will help make transparency great again.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
While it has become common for presidential candidates to release personal tax returns, Congressional and state candidates often skirt requests, including current California Gov. Jerry Brown.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown didn&rsquo;t disclose his returns during a bitter 2010 campaign against Republican candidate and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Brown said he would disclose his returns during the primary, but eventually balked after Whitman offered to match with 25 years of returns.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown would have final say over the proposal if it&rsquo;s passed by the Legislature in 2017.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown&rsquo;s predecessor, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did release his returns in 2006 for the previous three years.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Candidates&rsquo; tax returns can be useful to voters because they reveal information such as their yearly income, tax rate, charitable donations and deductions claimed.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Wiener is fresh off a narrow victory over Jane Kim in the race to replace state Sen. Mark Leno&rsquo;s seat. Although he didn&rsquo;t release his tax returns to voters, Wiener told Courthouse News he has filed earnings reports with the <a href="https://sfethics.org/">San Francisco Ethics Commission</a> over the last 15 years while he served as a public official, most recently on that city&rsquo;s board of supervisors.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to release my tax returns whenever Donald Trump releases his. Since I have no assets outside of my retirement savings (all mutual funds), my 500 square-foot condo, a modest savings account for emergency expenses and my 17-year-old car (which might have a negative value at this point), mine will be far less interesting than Trump&rsquo;s,&rdquo; Wiener said in an email.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
McGuire and Wiener will formally introduce their bill in January.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/constitutional-violations-of-trumps-foreign-business-dealings-may-never-be-known-due-to-limited-disclosure-rules-161201?news=859849">Constitutional Violations of Trump&rsquo;s Foreign Business Dealings May Never Be Known Due to Limited Disclosure Rules</a> (by Derek Kravitz, ProPublica)</p>
2016-12-25T15:55:06-08:00859947http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-county-fights-chevron-and-local-school-district-to-defend-voter-approved-law-limiting-oil-production-151220?news=859947Top StoriesCalifornia County Fights Chevron and Local School District to Defend Voter-Approved Law Limiting Oil Production<p>
By Jon Chown, Courthouse News Service</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
MONTEREY, Calif. (CN) &ndash; <a href="https://www.chevron.com/">Chevron</a>, energy companies and a school district sued Monterey County last week, challenging a law voters approved on Nov. 8 that bans hydraulic fracturing and limits oil production in the coastal county.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Two lawsuits Wednesday asked the Superior Court to declare that the voter-approved initiative, <a href="http://www.montereycountyelections.us/a_measures_NOVEMBER_2016_EN_MZ.html">Measure Z</a>, attempts to pre-empt federal and state laws on oil and gas production and takes property without proper compensation, in violation of the federal and state constitutions.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Chevron, <a href="http://www.keyenergy.com/">Key Energy Services</a>, <a href="http://ensignenergy.com/Pages/default.aspx">Ensign United States Drilling</a>, <a href="https://sausd-k12-pt.schoolloop.com/">San Ardo Union Elementary District</a> and five people filed one complaint. <a href="http://www.aeraenergy.com/">Aera Energy</a>, which leases mineral rights for more than 2,500 acres in the San Ardo Field in south Monterey County, about 30 miles north of Paso Robles and 20 miles south of King City, filed the other complaint.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Monterey County Counsel Charles McKee said he&rsquo;d expected lawsuits, and noted their probability while writing the analysis of Measure Z that appeared in the voters&rsquo; guide. These two, he said, probably won&rsquo;t be the last.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We knew about the potential for lawsuits as soon as Measure Z qualified for the ballot and we intend to defend it vigorously,&rdquo; McKee said. &ldquo;If a measure is valid on its face, and as far as we can tell this is, then we have an obligation to defend it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The San Ardo Field was discovered in 1947. It is the 13th largest oil field in California and the 46th largest in the United States. The oil is &ldquo;heavy&rdquo; and has the consistency of ketchup, but by injecting steam it is heated and extracted more easily.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Chevron is the largest operator on the site, producing about 11,000 barrels of oil per day. An oil well at the San Ardo Field typically draws about 10 to 20 times as much water as oil, and in 2006 Chevron built a reverse osmosis facility to purify 45,000 barrels of water a day. About 75 percent of the water is sent to recharge basins, where it slowly drains back into the aquifer through a series of constructed wetlands. The remaining water is concentrated brine and is pumped deep underground.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Measure Z, presented to voters as a ban on fracking and risky oil operations to protect the region&rsquo;s water, passed with 56 percent approval on Nov. 8. It amends Monterey County&rsquo;s land use plans to prohibit fracking and other procedures deemed a danger to groundwater. It also prohibits drilling new oil and gas wells.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But according to Chevron&rsquo;s lawsuit, fracking is not even used in Monterey County, and the impacts of Measure Z are much broader. It says the initiative&rsquo;s gradual phase-out, prohibition of wastewater injection and rules for storing it would kill its operations, and the ban on new wells would reduce production by about 20 percent a year.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;If the county prevents the drilling of additional wells, the yield from the current wells will continually decrease until oil and gas production at the San Ardo Oil Field will no longer economically viable,&rdquo; Chevron says in its complaint.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Should that happen, San Ardo Union Elementary School District stands to lose a lot of money. That&rsquo;s why it joined the lawsuit, said Superintendent Catherine Reimer.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of poverty in the area,&rdquo; Reimer said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The district serves 100 students from kindergarten through eighth grade, all at one school. Reimer said 97 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. The district is funded primarily through property taxes and 89 percent of it comes from the oilfield. Measure Z would put even more stress on a tight budget.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We just successfully passed a bond on the ballot, but will not be able to implement that bond to improve this aging facility because the property taxes would not be there if Measure Z is implemented,&rdquo; Reimer said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
She said she is not worried about backlash from voters, because fighting Measure Z is best for the school district.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a sticky situation, but the board believes this is best for the community and students here,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;And there is no fracking here in Monterey County. The premise by which it was passed probably misled a lot of voters. California probably has the most stringent laws in the world when it comes to the extraction oil.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Aera Energy said it regretted the fight against the popular vote, but its CEO Christina Sistrunk said the company had no other remedy company. About 150 employees and contractors at Aera&rsquo;s San Ardo facility could be affected by Measure Z, and shutting down operations, as Measure Z requires, will cost education, public safety and other services millions of dollars, the CEO said in a statement.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We filed this lawsuit to protect our workers, our legal rights and our many stakeholders in Monterey County that rely on Aera,&rdquo; Sistrunk said. &ldquo;Measure Z won&rsquo;t just hurt our company. It will inflict significant unnecessary hardship on our employees and their families, as well as on Monterey County and its citizens, by exporting good jobs and essential revenues out of the county and into foreign countries.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Chevron expressed similar sentiments in a statement.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;As a result of Measure Z, public agencies such as Monterey County and San Ardo Union Elementary School District will lose millions of dollars in tax revenue, and small businesses will lose a significant source of local revenue and citizens will lose jobs,&rdquo; the oil giant said. &ldquo;The county will also be liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages resulting from the illegal termination of oil and gas property rights. To avoid this outcome, Chevron, the San Ardo Union Elementary School District and several small businesses have joined together to file a lawsuit challenging Measure Z on the grounds that it exceeds the county&rsquo;s authority to regulate the oil and gas industry.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Aera Energy, owned by affiliates of <a href="http://www.shell.us/">Shell</a> and <a href="http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/">ExxonMobil</a>, is represented by Andrew Bassak with Manatt, Phelps &amp; Phillips in San Francisco.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Chevron et al. are represented by Jeffrey Dintzer with Gibson, Dunn &amp; Crutcher in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Because of the lawsuits, most of Measure Z will be put on hold. Language in the initiative puts a stay on most prohibitions until a settlement is reached or the issue is decided in court, McKee said. Those affected may be exempt from the rules if they can show the measure results in an unconstitutional taking, as both Chevron and Aera contend.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
County supervisors could grant a waiver, but McKee said that for a waiver to be granted, the county would have to hold a hearing. If the court determines there has been an unconstitutional taking, he said, a waiver could be granted retroactively. So, despite facing one of the largest corporations on the planet, Monterey has many tools at its disposal to for a successful defense.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I think we have excellent attorneys in our office and we have obtained an excellent law firm, Best Best &amp; Krieger, to handle the cases,&rdquo; McKee said. &ldquo;We are going to be open to talking to everybody and see if we can litigate these cases with courtesy and respect.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/discussion-draft-of-first-ever-california-fracking-regulations-raises-a-howl-from-environmentalists-121223?news=846562">&ldquo;Discussion Draft&rdquo; of First-Ever California Fracking Regulations Raises a Howl from Environmentalists</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-finally-counts-them-and-finds-half-of-new-oil-wells-are-fracked-150115?news=855384">California Finally Counts Them and Finds Half of New Oil Wells Are Fracked</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov)</p>
2016-12-20T15:55:06-08:00859895http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-lawmakers-to-enact-sweeping-laws-to-resist-trumps-mass-immigrant-deportation-threats-161210?news=859895Top StoriesCalifornia Lawmakers to Enact Sweeping Laws to Resist Trump’s Mass Immigrant Deportation Threats<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<meta content="noindex" name="robots" />
</p>
<p>
By Jennifer Medina, New York Times</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
LOS ANGELES &mdash; Top Democratic lawmakers in California are moving to enact sweeping legislation to protect unauthorized immigrants from deportation, the first sign of what they say will be an effort to resist immigration policies championed by President-elect Donald Trump.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The laws, introduced Monday, would provide free legal help to unauthorized immigrants during deportation proceedings, offer more assistance in criminal court, and further limit local law enforcement&rsquo;s cooperation with federal immigration agents. The measures contrast sharply with the kind of policies that Trump pressed on the campaign trail.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Throughout the presidential campaign and since, the president-elect has made many troubling statements that run counter to the principles that define California today,&rdquo; said Kevin de Le&oacute;n, the Senate president pro tempore, who is backing the package. &ldquo;There is no greater policy area than immigration where the comments run headlong to the values we share as Californians.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The legislation suggests the level of opposition Trump may face in California, a state where 40 percent of the population is Latino. The leaders of both chambers of the Legislature are Latino, as is the state&rsquo;s attorney general-designee, Xavier Becerra.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
De Le&oacute;n said that pushing immigration measures would be a priority of the Legislature.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The bills are likely to pass, as both the chambers of California&rsquo;s Legislature, as well as the governor&rsquo;s office, are controlled by Democrats. The measures are the latest in a long line of immigrant-friendly policies passed by the Legislature, whose members include a number of immigrants and the children of immigrants. The state already offers in-state college tuition rates and driver&rsquo;s licenses for unauthorized immigrants.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
This year, legislators approved a plan to press the Obama administration to allow immigrants in the U.S. illegally to buy health insurance through the state&rsquo;s public exchange. The proposed legislation goes even further in offering assistance to unauthorized immigrants. Under one proposal, the state would set up a public fund to pay for legal services for any immigrant in deportation proceedings.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The fund would mostly use grants to finance nonprofits that offer such services. The public fund would also take donations, and de Le&oacute;n said he had already spoken to some who are eager to make contributions. Jeff Adachi, the San Francisco public defender, has also proposed setting aside $5 million from the city&rsquo;s budget to defend immigrants.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
About two-thirds of all detained immigrants in California do not have lawyers, and several studies have shown that immigrants with a lawyer are far more likely to succeed in challenging their deportation.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In the past two years, the state has spent $33 million on legal assistance for immigrants. Much of the money was intended to help more immigrants enroll in an program created by President Barack Obama that would have allowed them to legally work in the United States. The program, known as <a href="https://www.ice.gov/daca">Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents</a>, or DAPA, was blocked after a <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/judicial-branch/united-states-supreme-court?agencyid=7232">Supreme Court</a> ruling this year. The money has also been used to help legal permanent residents apply for citizenship.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Another proposal would set up facilities throughout the state to train public defenders in immigration law. The public defenders would be better able to help immigrants understand what effect their criminal offenses might have on their deportation case, de Le&oacute;n said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Trump has said he will focus on deporting criminals, but has also said he intends to immediately deport 2 million to 3 million immigrants. About 820,000 unauthorized immigrants have been convicted of crimes, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;If the president-elect has identified 2 to 3 million criminal immigrants, we can only assume it&rsquo;s a pretense to open up criteria to deport mothers who are pulled over for a broken taillight,&rdquo; de Le&oacute;n said. &ldquo;We want to ensure that those facing deportation are afforded due process, so that the most vulnerable are protected.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A 2014 state law prohibits local jails from holding immigrants any longer than required by criminal law, with exceptions for violent and other serious crimes. Most counties in California also prohibit holding immigrants beyond their sentence unless federal immigration agents have a judicial order. The new law would go even further and prohibit all state and local law enforcement agencies from responding to requests from immigration authorities.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The state is taking concrete steps to protect its residents, including by making sure its resources and personnel are not being used to deport its residents,&rdquo; said Jessica Karp Bansal, the litigation director for the <a href="http://www.ndlon.org/en/">National Day Laborer Organizing Network</a>, which has advocated these policies. &ldquo;These are broad first steps to address the threats that are already out there.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
De Le&oacute;n said the bills would be voted on next month. They will require a two-thirds majority to be enacted.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/controversies/can-anti-evolution-gop-evolve-on-immigration-in-california-150921?news=857468">Can Anti-Evolution GOP Evolve on Immigration in California?</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/donald-trump-has-a-plan-for-deporting-millions-of-california-illegal-immigrants-150818?news=857225">Donald Trump Has a Plan for Deporting Millions of California Illegal Immigrants</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/california-supreme-court-says-undocumented-immigrant-can-practice-lawbut-its-against-the-law-to-hire-him-140105?news=852082">California Supreme Court Says Undocumented Immigrant Can Practice Law&hellip;but It&rsquo;s against the Law to Hire Him</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov)</p>
2016-12-10T15:55:06-08:00859844http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-targets-methane-producing-farm-animals-in-global-warming-fight-161201?news=859844Top StoriesCalifornia Targets Methane-Producing Farm Animals in Global Warming Fight<p>
By Terence Chea, Associated Press</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
GALT, Calif. (AP) &mdash; California is taking its fight against global warming to the farm.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The nation&#39;s leading agricultural state is now targeting greenhouse gases produced by dairy cows and other livestock.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Despite strong opposition from farmers, <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/officials/california_brown_jerry?officialid=228">Gov. Jerry Brown</a> signed legislation in September that for the first time regulates heat-trapping gases from livestock operations and landfills.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Cattle and other farm animals are major sources of methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide as a heat-trapping gas. Methane is released when they belch, pass gas and make manure.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;If we can reduce emissions of methane, we can really help to slow global warming,&quot; said Ryan McCarthy, a science adviser for the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/california-environmental-protection-agency/air-resources-board?agencyid=120">California Air Resources Board</a>, which is drawing up rules to implement the new law.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Livestock are responsible for 14.5 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, with beef and dairy production accounting for the bulk of it, according to a 2013 United Nations report.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Since the passage of its landmark global warming law in 2006, California has been reducing carbon emissions from cars, trucks, homes and factories, while boosting production of renewable energy.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In the nation&#39;s largest milk-producing state, the new law aims to reduce methane emissions from dairies and livestock operations to 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030, McCarthy said. State officials are developing the regulations, which take effect in 2024.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;We expect that this package ... and everything we&#39;re doing on climate, does show an effective model forward for others,&quot; McCarthy said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Dairy farmers say the new regulations will drive up costs when they&#39;re already struggling with five years of drought, low milk prices and rising labor costs. They&#39;re also concerned about a newly signed law that will boost overtime pay for farmworkers.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;It just makes it more challenging. We&#39;re continuing to lose dairies. Dairies are moving out of state to places where these costs don&#39;t exist,&quot; said Paul Sousa, director of environmental services for <a href="http://westernuniteddairymen.com/">Western United Dairymen</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The dairy industry could be forced to move production to states and countries with fewer regulations, leading to higher emissions globally, Sousa said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;We think it&#39;s very foolish for the state of California to be taking this position,&quot; said Rob Vandenheuvel, general manager for the <a href="http://www.milkproducerscouncil.org/">Milk Producers Council</a>. &quot;A single state like California is not going to make a meaningful impact on the climate.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Regulators are looking for ways to reduce so-called enteric emissions &mdash; methane produced by bovine digestive systems. That could eventually require changes to what cattle eat.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But the biggest target is dairy manure, which accounts for about a quarter of the state&#39;s methane emissions.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
State regulators want more farmers to reduce emissions with methane digesters, which capture methane from manure in large storage tanks and convert the gas into electricity.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The state has set aside $50 million to help dairies set up digesters, but farmers say that&#39;s not nearly enough to equip the state&#39;s roughly 1,500 dairies.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
New Hope Dairy, which has 1,500 cows in Sacramento County, installed a $4 million methane digester in 2013, thanks to state grants and a partnership with California Biogas LLC, which operates the system to generate renewable power for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Co-owner Arlin Van Groningen, a third-generation farmer, says he couldn&#39;t afford one if he had to buy and run it himself.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;The bottom line is it&#39;s going to negatively impact the economics of the California dairy industry,&quot; Van Groningen said of the new law. &quot;In the dairy business, the margins are so slim that something like this will force us out of state.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
State officials say they&#39;re committed to making sure the new regulations work for farmers and the environment.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;There&#39;s a real opportunity here to get very significant emissions reductions at fairly low cost, and actually in a way that can bring economic benefits to farmers,&quot; Ryan said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/groups-sue-epa-over-failure-to-regulate-stinking-pollution-150201?news=855536">Groups Sue EPA over Failure to Regulate Stinking Pollution</a> (by Steve Straehley, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/beef-production-far-worse-for-the-environment-than-other-animal-products-140723?news=853765">Beef Production Far Worse for the Environment than other Animal Products</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/to-fight-global-warming-eat-less-corn-and-more-flaxseedif-youre-a-cow?news=838971">To Fight Global Warming, Eat Less Corn and More Flaxseed&hellip;If You&rsquo;re a Cow</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2016-12-01T15:55:07-08:00859771http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/trump-win-gives-big-boost-to-campaign-for-california-to-secede-from-union-161116?news=859771Top StoriesTrump Win Gives Big Boost to Campaign for California to Secede from Union<p>
By Don Thompson, Associated Press</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Donald Trump&#39;s election as president is giving a big social-media boost to an unlikely effort in the nation&#39;s most populous state: a plan to vote on seceding from the union.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The <a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&amp;ion=1&amp;espv=2&amp;ie=UTF-8#q=Yes+California+Independence+Campaign">Yes California Independence Campaign</a> hopes to put a question on the November 2018 ballot that would authorize a statewide independence vote for spring 2019.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The effort drew little attention until the November 8 election, which also kept Trump&#39;s fellow Republicans in charge of Congress and raised the possibility of a conservative shift on the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/judicial-branch/united-states-supreme-court?agencyid=7232">U.S. Supreme Court</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A look at what&#39;s happening:</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
THE TRUMP VICTORY</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Campaign President Louis J. Marinelli said the election results offer further proof that California is more progressive than the nation as a whole. Voters endorsed ballot measures that included recreational marijuana and increased taxes on the rich. Many Californians were offended by Trump&#39;s statements on immigration and other issues.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;People are starting to come to the realization ... &#39;Wait a minute, this is not the type of country we want to live in,&#39;&quot; said Marinelli, who lost a primary bid for the state Assembly this year.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
THE REACTION</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
As election results rolled in, the group&#39;s Facebook contacts grew from about 11,000 to about 15,000, and its email account received about 3,000 messages. Marinelli said he couldn&#39;t keep up with the Twitter messages.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The next day, the group set up a tent outside the state Capitol in Sacramento. About a dozen supporters wearing YesCalifornia.org T-shirts talked to passers-by.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;It would frankly be better off if we were our own nation,&quot; said the group&#39;s vice president, Marcus Ruiz Evans, calling Trump&#39;s election further evidence that America is a sinking ship. &quot;Our ship can sail on its own.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Skeptics, like Steve Angel of Sacramento, criticized what he said is an effort to &quot;balkanize&quot; the United States by breaking it into pieces.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
To the north, in Portland, Oregon, two residents filed a separate petition for a 2018 ballot initiative for Oregon to secede.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
THE PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Any effort to get an issue on the ballot requires the gathering of hundreds of thousands of signatures.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Marinelli tried unsuccessfully to put several initiatives on the ballot this year, including a proposal to declare California a separate nation, to rename the governor the &quot;president&quot; of California and to fly the California state flag atop the United States flag. Those signature-gathering efforts fizzled.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Repeated attempts to create a 51st state in Northern California, named the State of Jefferson, have also failed. That movement generally draws more conservative supporters who are dissatisfied with California&#39;s dominance by Democrats.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The Yes California Independence Campaign tries to appeal across the political spectrum but holds a generally progressive ideology, Marinelli said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
BREXIT = CALEXIT?</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Marinelli equates the movement&#39;s longshot chances to the recent decision by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;People said Brexit wouldn&#39;t happen, and then they said Trump wouldn&#39;t happen ... Things that you don&#39;t expect to happen are happening, so why not this?&quot; he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Supporters of the initiative note that California, with its 39 million residents, is often compared to other nations, not other states. Data from the World Bank show its economy was equivalent to the sixth-largest in the world last year.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
THE HISTORY</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Threats to secede from the United States have been a part of American politics almost since the nation was founded. The most serious attempt came before and during the Civil War, when 11 Southern states left to form the Confederacy. The movement ended with the defeat of Confederate forces.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Chapman University law professor Ronald Rotunda said the Constitution does not provide for state secession, so the only way to do it legally would be to change the Constitution &mdash; an act that requires the approval of Congress and 38 states.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;It&#39;s not going to happen. You&#39;re not going to find 38 states,&quot; he said. &quot;The theory of our Constitution for over 200 years is we sink or swim together.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/california-county-votes-to-secede-from-state-130908?news=851066">California County Votes to Secede from State</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/california-joins-secession-movement-121114?news=846195">California Joins Secession Movement</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2016-11-16T15:55:06-08:00859770http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/californias-african-americans-far-more-likely-than-whites-to-be-arrested-on-felony-charges-161115?news=859770Top StoriesCalifornia’s African Americans Far More Likely than Whites to Be Arrested on Felony Charges<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<meta content="noindex" name="robots" />
</p>
<p>
By Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle via New York Times</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SAN FRANCISCO -- Arrest rates have dropped for all racial groups in California over the last decade, but African Americans are still much more likely than whites to be arrested on felony charges, according to a <a href="https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/arrests/offenses">report</a> released Friday.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In 2015, blacks were 10 times as likely as whites to be arrested on robbery charges and three to five times as likely to be arrested on charges of burglary, theft or assault, according to the report from the state attorney general&#39;s office. For felonies involving narcotics, black men were six times as likely as white men to be arrested, and black women were 2.9 times as likely as white women, the report said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The disparity was even larger for charges of prostitution, in which black women were 20 times as likely to be arrested as white women.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The differences were much less for Latinos, who were about twice as likely as non-Latino whites to be arrested for robbery and were arrested at about the same rate as whites for narcotics. The report also noted that the racial gap was much larger a decade ago, when African Americans in California were about 17 times as likely as whites to be arrested on narcotics charges.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Still, Attorney General <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/officials/california_harris_kamala?officialid=231">Kamala Harris</a> said in a statement, the data show ``pervasive inequalities in our criminal justice system. ... We must continue the national dialogue about criminal justice reform and promote the American idea that we are all equal under the law.&#39;&#39;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The report noted the effect of Proposition 47, the 2014 initiative that reclassified drug possession and theft crimes under $950 as misdemeanors instead of felonies.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Felony arrests in California dropped by 29 percent in 2015, the report said, while misdemeanor arrests increased by 11 percent.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But arrests have also declined over a longer period, the report said: by 17.5 percent, or an average of 32,500 a year, since 2008.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The racial gap is disturbing but not surprising, said Rory Little, a law professor at the University of California at Hastings in San Francisco and a former federal prosecutor.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``The exact numbers change, but no matter what people do, there seems to be a persistent racial disparity,&#39;&#39; Little said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In part, he said, it reflects differences in income, as police tend to patrol more in poorer neighborhoods, which also are more likely to be communities of color. Another reason, he said, is ``unconscious bias,&#39;&#39; which police share with the rest of society.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``If you (the officer) see a poorly dressed person walking down the street looking in car windows, you might follow the black person more than the white person,&#39;&#39; Little said. If asked for an explanation, the officer would probably say, ``He just looked suspicious to me.&#39;&#39;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/arrests/offenses">Arrests by Offense, 2005 to 2015</a> (California Office of Attorney General)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/controversies/black-women-in-sf-continue-to-be-arrested-a-lot-more-than-other-females-150602?news=856622">Black Women in S.F. Continue to Be Arrested a Lot More Than Other Females</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/by-age-23-more-than-40-percent-of-american-males-have-been-arrested-regardless-of-race-140123?news=852246">By Age 23, More than 40% of American Males have been Arrested Regardless of Race</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/black-americans-given-longer-sentences-than-white-americans-for-same-crimes?news=843984">Black Americans Given Longer Sentences than White Americans for Same Crimes</a> (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2016-11-15T15:55:06-08:00859665http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/pentagon-orders-10000-california-national-guard-soldiers-to-repay-bonuses-a-decade-after-serving-in-middle-east-161025?news=859665Top StoriesPentagon Orders 10,000 California National Guard Soldiers to Repay Bonuses a Decade after Serving in Middle East<p>
By Associated Press</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Nearly 10,000 <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/independent-agencies/california_national_guard?agencyid=229">California National Guard</a> soldiers have been ordered to repay huge enlistment bonuses a decade after signing up to serve in <a href="http://www.allgov.com/nations?nationID=3474">Iraq</a> and <a href="http://www.allgov.com/nations?nationID=3436">Afghanistan</a>, a newspaper reported Saturday.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The Pentagon demanded the money back after audits revealed overpayments by the California Guard under pressure to fill ranks and hit enlistment goals. If soldiers refuse, they could face interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens, the <em>Los Angeles Times</em> said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Faced with a shortage of troops at the height of the two wars, California Guard officials offered bonuses of $15,000 or more for soldiers to reenlist.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A federal investigation in 2010 found thousands of bonuses and student loan payments were improperly doled out to California Guard soldiers. About 9,700 current and retired soldiers received notices to repay some or all of their bonuses with more than $22 million recovered so far.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Soldiers said they feel betrayed at having to repay the money.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;These bonuses were used to keep people in,&rdquo; said Christopher Van Meter, a 42-year-old former Army captain and Iraq veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart. &ldquo;People like me just got screwed.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Van Meter said he refinanced his home mortgage to repay $25,000 in reenlistment bonuses and $21,000 in student loan repayments that the military says was improperly given to him.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The California Guard said it has to follow the law and collect the money.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;At the end of the day, the soldiers ended up paying the largest price,&rdquo; Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers, deputy commander of the California Guard told the <em>Times</em>. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d be more than happy to absolve these people of their debts. We just can&rsquo;t do it. We&rsquo;d be breaking the law.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The Pentagon agency that oversees state Guard groups has said that bonus overpayments occurred in every state, but more so in California, which has 17,000 soldiers.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
California Guard officials said they are helping soldiers and veterans file appeals with agencies that can erase the debts. But soldiers said it&rsquo;s a long process and there&rsquo;s no guarantee they&rsquo;ll win.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Retired Army major and Iraq veteran Robert D&rsquo;Andrea said he was told to repay his $20,000 because auditors could not find a copy of the contract he says he signed.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
D&rsquo;Andrea appealed and is running out of options.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Everything takes months of work, and there is no way to get your day in court,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Some benefit of the doubt has to be given to the soldier.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/vets-sue-defense-dept-for-refusing-to-pay-reenlistment-bonuses-160216?news=858306">Vets Sue Defense Dept. for Refusing to Pay Reenlistment Bonuses</a> (by Nick Cahill, Courthouse News Service)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-the-money-going/justice-dept-indicts-25-in-army-national-guard-recruiting-fraud-scandal-151028?news=857730">Justice Dept. Indicts 25 in Army National Guard Recruiting Fraud Scandal</a> (by Steve Straehley, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/6-states-refuse-benefits-to-gay-national-guard-spouses-131112?news=851641">6 States Refuse Benefits to Gay National Guard Spouses</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2016-10-25T14:55:06-07:00859563http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/media-groups-still-wary-of-potential-impact-on-journalists-from-california-law-criminalizing-undercover-videos-161004?news=859563Top StoriesMedia Groups Still Wary of Potential Impact on Journalists from California Law Criminalizing Undercover Videos<p>
By Nick Cahill, Courthouse News Service</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) &mdash; In a move that could potentially see lawsuits against journalists for reporting on undercover footage, California Gov. <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/officials/california_brown_jerry?officialid=228">Jerry Brown</a> on Friday approved a Planned Parenthood-sponsored bill that enhances penalties for secretly recording health care providers.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Although it&#39;s already illegal to record private conversations in the Golden State, Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, convinced the Legislature and governor that stronger laws were needed to prevent undercover sting operations like the one that ensnared Planned Parenthood last summer.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/">Planned Parenthood</a> sponsored and heavily lobbied for <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1671">Assembly Bill 1671</a> after sting videos showing doctors discussing fetal tissue sales with fake buyers were released last year.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The bill creates a new crime and enhances penalties for individuals that secretly record or distribute footage of health care providers. Californians caught secretly recording private conversations with a health care provider could be incarcerated for up to a year under AB 1671.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Originally, the bill ran into fierce opposition from lobbyists such as the <a href="https://www.cnpa.com/">California Newspaper Publishers Association</a> and the <a href="https://www.acluca.org/">American Civil Liberties Union of California</a>. The groups warned that journalists simply distributing the footage by reporting on it could be prosecuted under the original bill.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Gomez and Planned Parenthood amended the bill seven times, including three times in August ahead of a crucial Senate floor vote. The last round of changes exempted journalists from criminal prosecution as long as they didn&#39;t participate in the illegal recordings.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The publishers association officially removed its opposition days before the final vote, but it remains skeptical of the bill&#39;s potential impact to its media clients. Since AB 1671 creates a new crime, journalists and media groups could still be sued for reporting future undercover videos.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In the end, the controversial bill cleared the Senate and Assembly on the final night of the legislative session on a mostly party-line vote. Brown signed the bill without comment Friday.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Legal precedent exists regarding the publication of illegally recorded footage. In the 2001 U.S. <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/judicial-branch/united-states-supreme-court?agencyid=7232">Supreme Court</a> case <em>Bartnicki v. Vopper</em>, the high court ruled that the First Amendment protects speech that was illegally intercepted as long as the party didn&#39;t participate in the recording.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Critics claim AB 1671 will likely be challenged by free-speech activists because it protects a specific industry - Planned Parenthood - and amounts to content-based regulation of speech.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;The same rationale for punishing communications of some preferred professions or industries could as easily be applied to other communications by law enforcement, animal testing labs, gun makers, lethal injection drug producers, the petroleum industry and religious sects,&quot; ACLU legislative director Kevin Baker wrote in an opposition letter sent to Gomez this summer.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Because Brown didn&#39;t offer a signing message it&#39;s tough to gauge his actual stance on the bill, said Nikki Moore, legal counsel for the publishers association.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;I think by signing the bill Brown must think that it&#39;s narrowly tailored,&quot; Moore said of Brown&#39;s signing. &quot;Although it seems a little out of step with his ideological position of not wanting to create new crimes.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Planned Parenthood reacted by thanking Brown and commending him for protecting health care providers from &quot;anti-abortion extremists.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;In signing AB 167 Gov. Brown sent a clear message to anti-abortion extremists that you cannot break the law in California or you will be held accountable,&quot; Kathy Kneer, president of <a href="http://www.ppactionca.org/?referrer=https://www.google.com/">Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California</a>, said in a statement. &quot;The rest of the nation looks to California to be on the leading edge of protecting access to reproductive health care. We continue that leadership today.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/california-bill-criminalizing-media-reporting-of-undercover-videos-alarms-free-speech-advocates-160815?news=859319">California Bill Criminalizing Media Reporting of Undercover Videos Alarms Free Speech Advocates</a> (by Nick Cahill, Courthouse News Service)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1671">AB-1671 Confidential Communications: Disclosure</a> (California Legislature)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/texas-grand-jury-indicts-anti-abortion-activists-behind-covert-planned-parenthood-video-160126?news=858170">Texas Grand Jury Indicts Anti-Abortion Activists Behind Covert Planned Parenthood Video</a> (by Jon Herskovitz, Reuters)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/kamala-harris-to-investigate-groups-video-sting-of-planned-parenthood-150727?news=857059">Kamala Harris to Investigate Group&rsquo;s Video Sting of Planned Parenthood</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2016-10-04T14:55:06-07:00859511http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/state-orders-law-enforcement-to-track-use-of-force-with-online-tool-160923?news=859511Top StoriesState Orders Law Enforcement to Track Use of Force With Online Tool<p>
By Amanda Lee Myers, Associated Press</p>
<p>
LOS ANGELES &mdash; From a broken bone to a fatal shooting, all 800 police departments in California must begin using a new online tool launched Thursday to report and help track every time officers use force that causes serious injuries.</p>
<p>
The tool&rsquo;s developers hail it as the first statewide dataset of its kind in the country and a model for other states. Those more critical of law enforcement call it a big step toward better police accountability.</p>
<p>
The tool, named URSUS for the bear on California&rsquo;s flag, includes fields for the race of those injured and the officers involved, how their interaction began and why force was deemed necessary.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s sort of like TurboTax for use-of-force incidents,&rdquo; said Justin Erlich, a special assistant attorney general overseeing the data collection and analysis.</p>
<p>
Departments must report the data under a new state law passed last November. Though some departments already tracked such data on their own, many did not.</p>
<p>
Working with the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/elected-independents/department_of_justice?agencyid=192">California Department of Justice,</a> a technology nonprofit called <a href="http://www.bayesimpact.org/">Bayes Impact</a> developed the tool in hopes of making the data easy for departments to report and easy for the state to analyze.</p>
<p>
The tool was built as an open-source project, and California will share the software code with interested law enforcement agencies across the U.S.</p>
<p>
Only three other states &mdash; Texas, Colorado and Connecticut &mdash; now require departments to track similar use-of-force data but their systems aren&rsquo;t digital, and in Colorado&rsquo;s case, only capture shootings, according to the <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/">National Conference of State Legislatures</a>.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;As a country, we must engage in an honest, transparent, and data-driven conversation about police use of force,&rdquo; <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/appointments-and-resignations/attorney_general_who_is_kamala_harris?news=641685">California Attorney General Kamala Harris</a> said in a news release.</p>
<p>
The goal is to capture all incidents that cause serious injuries but not minor ones, like bruises.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;How do we get enough information where we can really focus on how to improve or inform policy? How do we make sure it&rsquo;s not too big?&rdquo; Erlich said. &ldquo;Capturing stubbed toes muddies the data but not capturing broken bones would be a huge miss.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
California&rsquo;s efforts come as the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-justice/federal-bureau-of-investigation-fbi?agencyid=7201">Federal Bureau of Investigation</a> (FBI) has made such data collection a priority in the wake of a number of officer-involved deaths of unarmed black people across the country.</p>
<p>
Last year, the FBI announced it would begin collecting all use-of-force data and make it public, though departments don&rsquo;t have to participate.</p>
<p>
FBI Director James Comey has expressed frustration over the absence of nationwide use-of-force data and said its collection will &ldquo;dispel misperceptions, foster accountability and promote transparency.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
California&rsquo;s police departments will report their use-of-force data to the state once a year beginning in January. It will be made public as early as the spring.</p>
<p>
Until now, California only tracked deaths in custody, not non-lethal uses of force. And it did so using paper forms.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;This is hugely important,&rdquo; said Peter Bibring, director of police practices at the <a href="https://www.aclusocal.org/">American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California</a>. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not taking use of force seriously until we&rsquo;re tracking information about every use-of-force incident.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of <a href="http://blacklivesmatter.com/">Black Lives Matter</a>, said she thinks the new data will show a pattern of abuse across the state. But actually collecting that data is positive, she said.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;We live in a culture that perpetuates racism and we need to be able to verify that racism through data,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;For the people who continue to deny racial disparities exist in this country, this data will allow us to have those living room and dinner conversations and share facts.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
Many in law enforcement think the data will show just how rare force incidents are, said Louis Dekmar, vice president of the <a href="http://www.iacp.org/">International Association of Chiefs of Police</a> and chief of the LaGrange Police Department in Georgia.</p>
<p>
But the data also will help pinpoint excessive force and help departments make key changes, he added.</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I see it as something long overdue,&rdquo; Dekmar said. &ldquo;When we screw up we should own up to it and do something to fix it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/controversies/complaints-and-use-of-force-drop-after-rialto-police-don-tiny-video-cameras-130826?news=850958">Complaints and Use of Force Drop after Rialto Police Don Tiny Video Cameras</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/controversies/paralyzed-manshot-in-the-back-by-san-jose-copawarded-record-113-million-151223?news=858039">Paralyzed Man&mdash;Shot in the Back by San Jose Cop&mdash;Awarded Record $11.3 Million</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/threes-a-charm-feds-launch-another-probe-of-la-county-jails-130909?news=851079">Three&rsquo;s a Charm: Feds Launch Another Probe of L.A. County Jails</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2016-09-22T23:20:05-07:00859474http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-becomes-first-state-in-nation-to-allow-overtime-pay-for-farm-workers-160913?news=859474Top StoriesCalifornia Becomes First State in Nation to Allow Overtime Pay for Farm Workers<p>
By Jonathan J. Cooper, Associated Press</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Farmworkers in the nation&#39;s largest agricultural state will be entitled to the same overtime pay as most other hourly workers under a law that California Gov. <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/officials/california_brown_jerry?officialid=228">Jerry Brown</a> said Monday that he had signed.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The new law, which will be phased in beginning in 2019, is the first of its kind in the nation to end the 80-year-old practice of applying separate labor rules to agricultural laborers.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In the state where Cesar Chavez successfully rallied farmworkers to demand union rights and more dignified working conditions, the legislation, <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1066">AB1066</a>, will gradually lower the number of hours that ranch hands and people who tend crops must work before accruing additional compensation.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Farmworkers will be entitled to time-and-a-half pay after eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, up from 10 hours a day or 60 a week. The new rules will take full effect in 2022 for most businesses and in 2025 for farms with 25 or fewer employees.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;The hundreds of thousands of men and women who work in California&#39;s fields, dairies and ranches feed the world and anchor our economy,&quot; Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, the bill&#39;s author, said in a statement. &quot;They will finally be treated equally under the law.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The measure passed after a strong push by the politically powerful <a href="http://www.ufw.org/">United Farm Workers</a>. Farming groups warned it will cause severe hardships for one of California&#39;s largest industries.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Farm work, marked by crushing workloads during specific periods, has long been exempted from some of the labor standards enacted by the federal government beginning in the 1930s, including overtime pay.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Beginning in the 1960s, Chavez brought laborers together and formed the United Farm Workers in California&#39;s Central Valley, making California the epicenter of their struggle. He used the rallying cry &quot;si se puede,&quot; or &quot;yes we can,&quot; and became a celebrated civil rights leader, particularly among Latinos.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown, a Democrat, signed the historic bill granting farmworkers the right to unionize when he was governor in 1975. He has declined to comment on the overtime legislation all year and declined again Monday through spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
California was the first state to give farmworkers collective bargaining rights, workers compensation and unemployment service. The state also requires that employers provide rest breaks and access to water and shade.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
However, farmworkers were again exempted when the state guaranteed overtime pay after eight hours in a day, not just 40 hours in a week, in 1999.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Opponents argued the seasonal nature of farm labor, with long hours crucial to sow and harvest during specific weather and growing periods, does not lend itself to overtime.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
They said the legislation would raise costs for farmers and make it more difficult for them to compete with rivals in other states and countries.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The obligation to care for animals &quot;doesn&#39;t always adhere to an eight-hour day, 40-hour work week,&quot; said Justin Oldfield, vice president of government relations for the California Cattlemen&#39;s Association.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Producers can&#39;t afford to pay workers overtime for 60-hour weeks and stay competitive, he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
They are likely to hire more employees rather than pay overtime, he said, resulting in a pay cut for existing employees.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Assemblyman Devon Mathis, R-Visalia, called the new law &quot;a slap in the face&quot; that will deprive farmworkers of needed income. &quot;Sometimes, the best intentions can have the worst consequences,&quot; Mathis said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown also announced Monday that he had signed <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/15-16/bill/sen/sb_1001-1050/sb_1015_bill_20160211_introduced.html">SB1015</a> by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, permanently extending what had been a temporary 2013 law requiring employers to pay domestic workers such as nannies, caregivers and housekeepers time-and-a-half if they work more than nine hours in a day or more than 45 hours in a week.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>Associated Press writers Alison Noon and Don Thompson contributed to this report.</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1066">Assembly Bill No. 1066</a> (California Legislature)</p>
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/why-arent-farmworkers-paid-normal-overtime?news=841090">Why Aren&rsquo;t Farmworkers Paid Normal Overtime?</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2016-09-13T14:55:06-07:00859468http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/california-enacts-nations-toughest-climate-law-160912?news=859468Top StoriesCalifornia Enacts Nation’s Toughest Climate Law<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<meta content="noindex" name="robots" />
</p>
<p>
By David R. Baker, New York Times</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SAN FRANCISCO -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed the nation&#39;s toughest climate law, requiring California to slash its greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 while leaving open the question of exactly how to do it.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
No other state has enacted such deep emission cuts into law. The legislation goes well beyond the reductions required by California&#39;s landmark 2006 global warming law, AB32, which called for returning emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The state&#39;s emissions have fallen 9.5 percent since peaking in 2004, and analysts now consider the 2020 goal well within reach.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``Here we are, 10 years later, emissions have gone down and the economy has gone up,&#39;&#39; said state Sen. Fran Pavley, D- Los Angeles County, who wrote AB32 as well as the new law, <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB32">SB32</a>. ``It&#39;s a success story.&#39;&#39;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown also signed a companion bill, <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB197">AB197</a>, which prioritizes efforts to cut emissions in low-income or minority communities. Many such communities are near facilities such as oil refineries and factories that produce both greenhouse gases and the toxic air pollution that can cause respiratory problems.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown warned that climate legislation still faces political resistance in Sacramento.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The new law, for example, does not contain a provision Brown badly wanted, explicitly authorizing California&#39;s cap-and-trade system for controlling emissions to keep running after 2020. The system, once considered a model for the nation, now faces an uncertain future, and Brown has suggested he may sponsor a ballot measure asking voters to save it.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
At a signing ceremony Thursday in Los Angeles, the governor slammed oil companies and automakers that he said had, over the years, repeatedly tried to block California&#39;s efforts to slow global warming.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``There&#39;s powerful opposition,&#39;&#39; Brown said. ``These are real people with real bucks and real influence.&#39;&#39;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
He pledged to continue pushing climate legislation anyway. ``It&#39;s going to take battle, some wisdom, and it&#39;s going to take some balance so we don&#39;t overdo it,&#39;&#39; he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Brown last year issued an executive order setting the 40 percent reduction target, and his predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, released his own order in 2005 calling for an 80 percent emissions cut by 2050. But executive orders can be easily discarded by future administrations. Laws cannot.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The new laws drew a chilly reception from the <a href="https://www.calchamber.com/Pages/default.aspx">California Chamber of Commerce</a>, which has often argued that the state&#39;s climate policies push up energy prices for consumers and drive businesses out of the state.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``Taken together, SB32 and AB197 impose very severe caps on the emission of greenhouse gases in California without requiring the regulatory agencies to give any consideration to the impacts on our economy, disruptions in everyone&#39;s daily lives or the fact that California&#39;s population will grow almost 50 percent between 1990 and 2030,&#39;&#39; said Chamber President and CEO Allan Zaremberg in an emailed statement.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In several ways, Thursday marked a turning point in the state&#39;s climate fight.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Lawmakers who represent low-income communities have increasingly chafed at global warming policies -- such as rebates for buying solar panels or electric cars -- that mainly help the wealthy or the middle class. Written by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella (Riverside County), who represents the desert communities surrounding the Salton Sea, AB197 was seen as a way to address that imbalance.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
AB197 also lets the Legislature appoint two nonvoting members to the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/departments/california-environmental-protection-agency/air-resources-board?agencyid=120">California Air Resources Board</a>, which runs most of California&#39;s global warming programs. And it requires the board to post on its website data about emissions of greenhouse gases and toxic air pollutants from individual facilities.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``Not only are we doubling down on building a new clean energy economy, we&#39;re also putting into law the principles of environmental justice in all our climate goals,&#39;&#39; said state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said passage of the two companion bills marked the rise of ``Eastside environmentalists&#39;&#39; -- a reference to the heavily Hispanic community in Los Angeles -- who will now begin exerting greater influence on the state&#39;s climate policies.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
At the same time, the signing ceremony represented a victory lap for Pavley, the Legislature&#39;s most powerful voice on climate issues for the past 16 years.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In addition to AB32, Pavley in 2002 wrote a law to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars. Bitterly opposed by automakers, that law eventually became the basis for federal fuel mileage standards under President Obama, who personally thanked Pavley for her work.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Unable to run for re-election because of term limits, Pavley acknowledged Thursday that it was time to pass the baton, and she thanked some of the newer lawmakers who backed her legislation, particularly Garcia. Their partnership on the two bills helped ensure passage.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
``This is my third climate bill with my third governor, and it&#39;s been a pleasure working with all of you,&#39;&#39; she said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB32">California Senate Bill No. 32</a> (California Legislature)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/38-of-californians-mostly-republicans-deny-climate-change-affects-the-state-150731?news=857090">38% of Californians, Mostly Republicans, Deny Climate Change Affects the State</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/states-global-warming-law-passes-key-judicial-hurdle-130919?news=851175">State&rsquo;s Global Warming Law Passes Key Judicial Hurdle</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2016-09-12T15:55:06-07:00859412http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/epa-backs-california-expansion-of-shadow-program-allowing-toxic-waste-pumping-into-water-reserves-160901?news=859412Top StoriesEPA Backs California Expansion of Shadow Program Allowing Toxic Waste Pumping into Water Reserves<script type="text/javascript" src="https://pixel.propublica.org/pixel.js" async="true"></script>
<p>
By Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
As the western United States struggles with chronic water shortages and a changing climate, scientists are warning that if vast underground stores of fresh water that California and other states rely on are not carefully conserved, they too may soon run dry.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Heeding this warning, California passed new laws in late 2014 that for the first time require the state to account for its groundwater resources and measure how much water is being used.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Yet California&rsquo;s natural resources agency, with the oversight and consent of the federal government, also runs a shadow program that allows many of its aquifers to be pumped full of toxic waste.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Now the state &mdash; which relied on aquifers for at least 60 percent of its total water supply over the past three years &mdash; is taking steps to expand that program, possibly sacrificing portions of dozens more groundwater reserves. In some cases, regulators are considering whether to legalize pollution already taking place at a number of sites, based on arguments that the water that will be lost was too dirty to drink or too difficult to access at an affordable price. Officials also may allow the borders of some pollution areas to be extended, jeopardizing new, previously unspoiled parts of the state&rsquo;s water supply.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The proposed expansion would affect some of the parts of California hardest hit by drought, from the state&rsquo;s agriculturally rich central valley to wine country and oil-drilling fields along the Salinas River. Some have questioned the wisdom of such moves in light of the state&rsquo;s long-term thirst for more water supplies.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Once [the state] exempts the water, it&rsquo;s basically polluted forever. It&rsquo;s a terrible idea,&rdquo; said Maya Golden-Krasner, staff attorney for the <a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/">Center for Biological Diversity</a>, which is suing California to force it to complete an environmental impact assessment of the proposed aquifer changes. California, she said, is still offering breaks to its oil industry. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re at a precipice point where the state is going to have to prioritize water over an industry that isn&rsquo;t going to last.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
California is one of at least 23 states where so-called aquifer exemptions &mdash; exceptions to federal environmental law that allow mining or oil and gas companies to dump waste directly into drinking water reserves &mdash; have been issued.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Exemptions are granted by a <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/independent-agencies/environmental-protection-agency-epa?agencyid=7326">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a> division that has had difficulties in recordkeeping and has been criticized for its controversial management of groundwater reserves. A 2012 ProPublica investigation disclosed that the federal government had given energy and mining companies permission to pollute U.S. aquifers in more than 1,000 locations, as part of an underground disposal program that allows toxic substances to be disposed of in nearly 700,000 waste wells across the country. In many cases, the exact locations of the exemptions and the precise boundaries of areas where aquifer pollution was allowed had been left poorly defined, raising concerns that waste might reach adjacent drinking water. Several states, including California, have since admitted they&rsquo;ve allowed that to happen.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
As droughts have worsened and aquifers have become more cherished, the implications of aquifer exemptions have become more serious, even as regulators have continued to issue these legal loopholes.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act distinguishes between underground aquifers that are too salty or dirty to ever be used and those that are pure enough to drink from, defining the latter as an &ldquo;underground source of drinking water.&rdquo; Protection of drinking water is required under the law, and any polluting of it through waste disposal, oil and gas production, or mining is a crime. Companies, however, can file petitions to change how an aquifer is classified, arguing that it either has already been polluted or is too deep underground to likely be used. Even if water is relatively clean, if the EPA approves a change in definition, an aquifer is no longer considered a &ldquo;source of drinking water,&rdquo; and is no longer protected.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Applications to exempt an aquifer are supposed to undergo extensive scientific scrutiny, and today they usually do. But when the Safe Drinking Water Act was initially implemented, the federal government traded away much of that scrutiny as a compromise to win state and industry support for the new regulations. The EPA granted blanket exemptions for large swaths of territory underlying California and Texas oil fields, for example, and did the same in other states with large energy and mining industries. Documents from California, dating to 1981, estimate that at least 100 aquifers in the state&rsquo;s central valley were granted exemptions.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
It&rsquo;s not always clear where the aquifers polluted under these early exemptions are located. For decades, both state officials and the federal government have struggled just to identify the precise places where the permits they issued applied, and where pollutants were being injected into groundwater. A spreadsheet listing thousands of exempted aquifer locations nationwide, provided to ProPublica in 2012 by the EPA in response to a Freedom of Information request, listed incomplete location coordinates for a majority of the exemptions, describing them merely by the county or township in which they are located. When pressed for more information, an EPA official admitted that was all the information the agency had.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
California&rsquo;s exemption records are only slightly more precise, and no less problematic.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Most of them appear to be best described in the appendices of a tattered 1981 document, yellowed with age. (State officials suggested to ProPublica this week that other records exist but could not produce them.) Overlying sections of a simple map of the state&rsquo;s vast central valley, hand-drawn boundaries are sketched over areas equivalent to thousands of acres and shaded in. There are only vague descriptions like depth and name of the geologic formation, but nothing as precise as latitude and longitude coordinates, for the borders of the shaded areas. &ldquo;Unfortunately, what we do not have is an easy-to-use, enumerated list,&rdquo; Don Drysdale, a spokesman for the <a href="http://www.conservation.ca.gov/">California Department of Conservation</a>, wrote to ProPublica in an email this week. The state has never endeavored to measure the total volume of water it has allowed to be spoiled.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The waste being injected into exempted aquifers is often described as merely &ldquo;salt water.&rdquo; Indeed, only &ldquo;non-hazardous&rdquo; substances are supposed to be pumped into aquifers, even with exemptions. But under concessions won by the oil industry and inserted into federal law, oilfield production waste &mdash; including chemicals known to cause cancer and fracking materials &mdash; are not legally considered &ldquo;hazardous,&rdquo; a term with a specific definition in federal environmental law. According to the California Department of Conservation, which regulates the state&rsquo;s oil and gas industry, &ldquo;drilling mud filtrate, naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), slurrified crude-oil, saturated soils, and tank bottoms&rdquo; are all allowed to be injected into aquifers as &ldquo;non-hazardous&rdquo; material.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Despite the substantial wiggle room granted by law, California has come under fire for not managing its roughly 52,000 waste wells properly. In 2011, the EPA sharply criticized the state for keeping poor records, mismanaging its environmental reviews, and failing to follow federal law. It suggested that the state&rsquo;s autonomy over its groundwater regulations could be revoked, and that the EPA would impose federal oversight.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
To fend off that change, California launched its own review and, in 2014, began to uncover extraordinary lapses: Thanks to poor recordkeeping and confusion over which aquifers had been written off, the state found more than 2,000 wells were injecting toxins not into exempt areas, but directly into the state&rsquo;s drinking water aquifers. In 140 cases wastewater was being put into the highest quality aquifers, raising concerns in the state capitol about the threat to public health. California shut down some 56 waste wells last year until it could sort out the mess, and it passed improved regulations that will give the state&rsquo;s water agency a role in the approval process. Still, it has allowed injection to continue until the end of this year in 11 drinking water aquifers that it has to reevaluate because neither the feds nor state officials are sure whether they exempted them in the 1980s.The state is also allowing injection to continue until next February in other drinking water quality aquifers pending the approval of new aquifer exemptions that would extend that indefinitely.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Those 11 aquifers have been the focus of much of the state&rsquo;s renewed attention, but California still hasn&rsquo;t confirmed the borders of the hundreds of legacy exemptions in other aquifers that date back to the 1980s. Without taking this step, the state&rsquo;s top water official said, there&rsquo;s no way to know how much clean water California still has.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s part of the whole point,&rdquo; Felicia Marcus, chair of the <a href="http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/">California State Water Resources Control Board</a> told ProPublica, &ldquo;not injecting into aquifers that people are depending on now, but also to go back and make sure we were not too loose on it in the past. Certainly the discovery of all these mistakes puts us on red alert.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Now California &mdash; with Marcus&rsquo; blessing &mdash; may fix the problem by expanding the boundaries of exempted areas rather than identifying and restricting them.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The Department of Conservation is poised to consider as many as 70 new aquifer exemptions, redrawing some to include areas where companies have been injecting waste illegally into drinking water. In the state&rsquo;s central valley, where a substantial portion of the nation&rsquo;s fruits and nuts are grown using groundwater, three applications for aquifer exemptions around the Fruitvale, Round Mountain and Tejon oil fields &mdash; all in or near Bakersfield &mdash; are already undergoing state reviews that would precede approval by the EPA.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
And in February the state submitted final plans to the EPA to exempt a new portion of the Arroyo Grande Aquifer in Paso Robles, allowing oil companies to inject waste or fluids to help in pumping out more oil. In that case, Marcus and the state&rsquo;s Water Resources Control Board &mdash; the agency in charge of the quality of the state&rsquo;s water supply &mdash; say they agreed to allow the exemption because the aquifer was already of poor quality and would not be used in the future. Marcus said she was convinced the contaminants injected there could not migrate underground in ways that would affect other, cleaner water sources nearby &mdash; that they would be sealed in by the geologic structure of the region.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Still, the areas California is writing off are surrounded by underground water reserves that get used every day. An exemption might cover the water soaked up in one particular layer of rock, at a certain depth, even while wells extract water from aquifers above or below it. And, according to Golden-Krasner, the state&rsquo;s assessment that pollution will remain confined is often dependent on an oil company maintaining a specific pressure underground, making the future of the clean water vulnerable to human error.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In our 2012 investigation, ProPublica found numerous cases in which waste defied the containment that regulators and their computer models had promised, and contamination spread. In many instances, injection wells themselves punched holes in the earth&rsquo;s seal and leaked. In others, faults and fissures in the earth moved in ways that allowed trapped fluids to migrate. Several of the problems documented had occurred in California.</p>
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The area around Bakersfield affected by the majority of the new aquifer pollution applications is also home to one of the state&rsquo;s largest underground water storage facilities, the <a href="http://www.kwb.org/">Kern Water Bank</a>, relied on by California farmers. It lies directly above at least one of the exempted aquifers and is pierced by dozens of oil wells. The state&rsquo;s water board supports the exemptions, but their close proximity to drinking water could be reason to worry, acknowledges Jonathan Bishop, the chief deputy director of the Water Resources Control Board.</p>
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&ldquo;Are we concerned that wells going through aquifers that have beneficial use be maintained and have high integrity? Yeah,&rdquo; Bishop said. &ldquo;They do go through drinking water aquifers in many locations, not just in Bakersfield.&rdquo;</p>
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Opponents of the exemption program are infuriated by the fact that applications are evaluated on an isolated basis, without any consideration of the state&rsquo;s larger water supply issues. The original criteria for aquifer exemptions set out in federal statute never contemplated that in California and plenty of others states, multiple exemptions could be granted in close proximity or that polluted areas could be sandwiched between clean water reserves. Neither state nor federal codes call for any broader analysis of the cumulative risk.</p>
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&ldquo;Their whole review is from the perspective of can we check the boxes on federal criteria and the state law,&rdquo; said John Noel, who covers oil and gas issues for the environmental group <a href="http://www.cleanwateraction.org/">Clean Water Action</a>. &ldquo;Nobody is asking the question, if we exempt these five aquifers what is the long term supply impact? How much water are we writing off?&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/california-epa-poised-expand-pollution-of-potential-drinking-water-reserves">California and EPA Poised to Expand Pollution of Potential Drinking Water Reserves</a> (by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/as-a-key-water-source-dries-up-california-eases-water-use-restrictions-160603?news=858920">As a Key Water Source Dries Up, California Eases Water Use Restrictions</a> (by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/nasa-scientist-says-california-has-one-year-of-water-reserves-left-150316?news=855965">NASA Scientist Says California Has One Year of Water Reserves Left</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2016-09-01T14:55:06-07:00859375http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/top-stories/us-postal-service-sues-berkeley-for-blocking-sale-of-historic-post-office-160825?news=859375Top StoriesU.S. Postal Service Sues Berkeley for Blocking Sale of Historic Post Office<p>
By Nicholas Iovino, Courthouse News Service</p>
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SAN FRANCISCO (CN) &mdash; The <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/independent-agencies/united-states-postal-service?agencyid=7284">U.S. Postal Service</a> has sued Berkeley, California, claiming the city interfered with a federal mandate by passing an ordinance to block the sale of its historic post office building.</p>
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The Monday lawsuit in Federal Court is the latest wrinkle in a four-year fight over the 102-year-old downtown post office.</p>
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Facing fewer customers and shrinking revenue, the Postal Service in 2011 announced plans to close up to 3,700 branches nationwide.</p>
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As part of its cost-cutting crusade, the Postal Service said it would sell its main post office building at 2000 Allston Way in Berkeley, as it needed only 4,000 square-feet of the 57,000-square-foot structure.</p>
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After soliciting community feedback, the Postal Service in 2013 said it would sell the building despite a Berkeley City Council resolution opposing it.</p>
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In its Monday lawsuit, the Postal Service says it agreed to place conditions on the sale to preserve the property&#39;s historic character, but Berkeley demanded $75,000 to enforce a historic covenant for the building.</p>
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&quot;Although most covenant holders, including the City of Los Angeles, for example, typically do not charge any fee to serve in that role, the Postal Service offered a payment of $25,000 to the City,&quot; the Postal Service said in its complaint. &quot;The City continued to request $75,000.&quot;</p>
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In September 2014, the Postal Service struck an agreement to sell the building to urban developer Hudson McDonald.</p>
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That same month, Berkeley passed a new zoning ordinance restricting the use of the post office building to civic and nonprofit purposes.</p>
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In November 2014, the city and <a href="http://www.preservationnation.org/?referrer=https://www.google.com/#.V77Ab_krJD8">the National Trust for Historic Preservation</a> sued the Postal Service in Federal Court to block the sale.</p>
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U.S. District Judge William Alsup dismissed both lawsuits as moot in April 2015 because the deal to sell the post office had fallen through.</p>
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The Postal Service said the deal was terminated in December 2013 due to Berkeley&#39;s zoning ordinance limiting uses of the building.</p>
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&quot;The practical effects of the zoning ordinance have fallen only on the Berkeley Main Post Office property, while commercial activity has continued in and around other parcels subject to the zoning ordinance,&quot; the Postal Service says in its complaint.</p>
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The ordinance has dissuaded commercial developers from buying the building, depressed the market value of the property, and deterred a federal agency from carrying out its mandate under the Postal Reorganization Act, the Postal Service says.</p>
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In June 2015, the city reaffirmed its commitment to stop the Postal Service from selling the building, passing a resolution &quot;in opposition to the sale of the downtown Berkeley Post Office.&quot;</p>
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The Postal Service claims the zoning ordinance violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and preempts federal law by interfering with a federal agency&#39;s mandate.</p>
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The Postal Service seeks a judgment declaring the ordinance void and a permanent injunction to stop the city from passing any more laws to block the sale of the property.</p>
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Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, who supported the zoning ordinance and other measures to block the post office sale, said he had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.</p>
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Timothy Burroughs, assistant to the Berkeley city manager, said the City Attorney&#39;s Office was still reviewing the complaint.</p>
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Built in 1914, Berkeley&#39;s main post office was placed on the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/nr/">National Register of Historic Places</a> in 1981. The Postal Service has occupied the building since 1933.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-the-money-going/sale-of-post-office-properties-ignored-historical-importance-140423?news=852981">Sale of Post Office Properties Ignored Historical Importance</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/where-is-the-money-going/legislation-offers-hope-that-historical-berkeley-post-office-wont-be-part-of-nationwide-selloff-140116?news=852180">Legislation Offers Hope that Historical Berkeley Post Office Won&rsquo;t be Part of Nationwide Selloff</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/usa/ca/news/california-and-the-nation/sen-feinsteins-husband-reaps-profits-from-post-office-closings-130926?news=851231">Sen. Feinstein&rsquo;s Husband Reaps Profits from Post Office Closings</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)</p>
2016-08-25T14:55:05-07:00